Former Citiraya CEO hit with fresh charges spanning corruption, money laundering

[SINGAPORE] Singaporean tycoon Ng Teck Lee, the former CEO of electronic waste-recycling company Citiraya Industries, was handed additional charges in court on Wednesday (May 20) over an embezzlement scandal dating back to the early 2000s.

The 38 fresh charges span corruption, criminal breach of trust, money laundering, cheating, theft and the falsification of accounts, indicated a joint press release by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and the Singapore Police Force.

The new allegations revealed more details on the operation, which reportedly involved the diversion, dishonest disposal and illegal sale of electronic scrap.

After a 19-year run from the law, Ng, 59, was extradited to Singapore in December 2024. He initially faced baseline charges for criminal breach of trust and corruption.

Corruption, falsification of accounts

Of the charges Ng is facing, 15 are related to corruption and 14 are linked to the falsification of accounts.

He allegedly gave “gratification totalling S$35,000 to three individuals, either as inducements or rewards”, between March 2003 and April 2004.

The bribes were allegedly to prevent the crushing of microchips from computer-chip manufacturer AMD, and to prevent the sampling and weighing of gold scrap that originated from 3M Singapore.

The bribes were also suspected to help Citiraya gain favour in securing a recycling contract with Seagate Technology International.

Ng also allegedly instigated his brother, Ng Teck Boon, to pay roughly S$1.82 million and US$200,000 in bribes to seven individuals.

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These were reportedly intended to spare electronic waste from destruction, as well as secure or extend corporate contracts.

The accused is also said to have misappropriated 89,760 kg of electronic chips entrusted to him as Citiraya’s director, selling them in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The authorities said he also “dishonestly” disposed of electronic scrap.

Allegedly, he instructed Citiraya staff to repackage and export – rather than crush – 112,798 kg of such scrap from Intel Resale Corporation, as well as 416 kg of electronic scrap belonging to Agilent Technologies Singapore.

Between November 2003 and January 2005, he reportedly cheated a 3M finance manager with refining statements claiming that the company’s electronic scrap yielded a lower content of precious metal than the actual amount.

He also allegedly instigated a Citiraya production manager to cheat a senior accountant at AMD with the same claim in 2004, on multiple occasions.

Some time after April 2003, Ng reportedly transferred about US$45 million in criminal proceeds to overseas bank accounts.

He instigated his wife, Thor Chwee Hwa, to open an overseas bank account in her name “to retain and conceal the benefits” of his criminal conduct. A sum of about US$1 million was transferred to that account in July 2003.

Ng is also accused of engaging in a conspiracy with several individuals to falsify 97 sales invoices of Citiraya and six other companies between June 2004 and January 2005.

History of the scandal

These developments mark the latest chapter in one of Singapore’s largest corporate scandals.

Citiraya Industries was in the business of recycling and recovering precious metals from electronic scrap, such as used computer chips.

The scheme unraveled after a complaint in December 2004, when a chip from a US-based client that was supposed to be scrapped surfaced in Taiwan following an operation by the local police.

Ng fled Singapore before he could be charged. While on the run, he and his wife assumed false identities and managed to evade the authorities for nearly two decades.

In 2011, an order was issued to seize about S$23 million of Ng’s assets, including those held in his wife’s name.

The assets included money from various bank accounts, insurance policies held by the couple, shareholdings in various companies, as well as proceeds from the sale of his Good Class Bungalow in Binjai Park and a 7,300-square-foot detached house in Paya Lebar.

He was apprehended and extradited to Singapore in December 2024, after 19 years at large.

He was then handed charges for committing criminal breach of trust and a corruption offence. His wife faced a money laundering charge for her role in helping to conceal the illicit funds.

His initial charge for criminal breach of trust alleged that he had misappropriated a total of 6,791 kg of electronic scrap entrusted to Citiraya Industries by five companies in 2005.

While this charge did not disclose the scrap’s monetary value, The Straits Times reported in 2008 that investigations revealed Ng had purportedly made more than US$51 million from his schemes.

The affected companies were named as Texas Instruments, Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific, ChipPac Malaysia, ST Microelectronics and RF Micro Devices (Beijing).

Infineon Technologies allegedly lost the largest share, at 2,918 kg.

Citiraya Industries was restructured in the wake of the embezzlement scandal, and renamed Centillion Environment and Recycling in 2006.

It has been known as Metech International since 2012 after merging with a US-based firm. In 2015, its listing was transferred from the Catalist board to the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange.