Nelson Loh Ne-Loon (right), the co-founder of Novena Global Healthcare Group (NGHG), was charged with 58 counts of forgery, cheating and transferring the benefits of his criminal conduct.
NGHG was set up by Loh and his cousin Terence Loh, and they made headlines in 2020 over their £280 million ($477 million) takeover bid for English Premier League club Newcastle United.
Loh, 44, was charged in December 2022 with forgery offences. He allegedly forged financial statements of NGHG in 2019 and used them to obtain bank loans amounting to $18 million.
On Wednesday, Loh was handed the 58 new charges and now faces 60 charges in total.
According to the new charges, Loh conspired with his employee, Wong Soon Yuh, to cheat six banks into believing that audits were performed for NGHG, Novena Global Healthcare, and wine trading and distribution company Giron, thus dishonestly inducing the banks to disburse loans to these companies.
Giron is now defunct. Loh’s former wife, Ms Lee Chai Hoon, was a director and shareholder.
The alleged cheating offences took place in July 2019 and involved Maybank, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, DBS Bank, UOB and HSBC. The loans disbursed by each bank ranged from $1.5 million to $17 million, totalling about $69 million.
Loh allegedly transferred multiple sums out of Novena Global Healthcare’s accounts to other accounts. He faces 48 charges of transferring the benefits of his criminal conduct.
Wong, 44, was handed 12 more charges on Wednesday relating to forgery, cheating and transferring sums which he had reasonable grounds to believe were benefits from another person’s criminal conduct.
The two men had left Singapore and gone on the run in September 2020 amid business troubles. A warrant of arrest and an Interpol red notice were later issued against them.
Their cases are scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Feb 1.
The Straits Times
