Founder of Agritrade International arrested for alleged cheating after being on the run for over 5 years

The founder and former director of Agritrade International, Ng Say Peck, was arrested on Monday (Dec 1) after five years on the run and charged in court with 10 counts of cheating the next day.

The 72-year-old Singaporean allegedly cheated digital financing platform Funding Societies after entering a credit facility arrangement in 2019, according to a statement by the police.

At the time, Funding Societies was issued finance invoices assigned to Agritrade International.

The platform made over 10 transactions between August and November 2019, and subsequently transferred a cumulative sum of $8 million to Agritrade International.

According to the police, the invoices were only discovered to be fictitious after investigations.

Investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department into Agritrade International for trade financing fraud commenced in January 2020 after the police received multiple reports lodged by various entities, including banks and finance companies that had extended credit facilities to Agritrade International for the purposes of trade financing.

Ng fled the country shortly before the commencement of police investigations.

A warrant of arrest and an Interpol red notice were subsequently issued against him, said the police.

With the co-operation and assistance of China, Ng was deported back to Singapore and arrested on arrival.

Ng is the second person from Agritrade International to be charged, following Lim Beng Kim, the former chief financial officer of the company.

Lim was charged on Dec 9, 2022 with 11 counts of cheating and was sentenced to a jail term of 20 years on Jan 17, 2023.

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dana.leong@asiaone.com