Nelson Loh Ne-Loon, 45, was jailed for 15 years and nine months on Aug. 16.

The co-founder of Novena Global Healthcare Group (NGHG) cheated banks into giving out more than S$69 million in loans to NGHG and a local wine trading company he had influence over, The Straits Times reported.

He faced 60 charges in total, said CNA.

He admitted to nine charges.

They were four for cheating, three for money laundering and two for forgery.

In 2020, Loh raised eyebrows when he was one of three investors looking to buy English Premier League club Newcastle United.

Their £280 million (S$477 million) takeover bid ended up not amounting to anything.

Loh's employee and ex-classmate also jailed

Loh's employee and secondary school friend, Michael Wong Soon Yuh, 45, pleaded guilty to five charges.

The charges included those for cheating and forgery offences.

Wong was sentenced to eight years and six months’ jail.

Arrested in China

The two Singaporeans left for China in September 2020.

It led to warrants of arrest and Interpol red notices issued against them in 2021.

Days after they left for China, the police received a report that some of NGHG’s financial statements contained forged signatures of the accounting firm Ernst & Young.

Both men returned to Singapore in December 2022 and were arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) with the help of authorities in China.

They have spent the past one year and seven months and more in remand.

Loh was "head of everything" at NGHG

The deputy public prosecutor said Wong joined NGHG as a business development officer.

He had to work closely with Loh to assist the board of directors, drawing a salary of around S$13,000 a month.

Loh admitted to the CAD that he was the “head of everything” there, said the DPP.

The court also heard that Loh held a decision-making position in Giron, a local wine trading company, as his former wife and his cousins were on the board of directors.

Loans taken out to save company: Defence

In 2019, NGHG was facing financial difficulty, and those who put their money into the business wanted it back.

This prompted Loh to instruct Wong to use numerous e-mails with forged audited financial statements of NGHG and Giron to apply for bank loans, the court heard.

Six banks, which were Maybank, Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank, UOB, Citibank, and HSBC, were deceived and gave out S$69 million in loans.

No restitution was made on the unrecovered losses, which came up to more than S$50 million suffered by the banks, said the prosecution.

Loh’s defence lawyers argued that he was trying to help save the business.

Wong's defence lawyer said his client was a physical education school teacher before joining Loh at NGHG, and learnt how to do business from Loh.

The offence of cheating carries a penalty of up to 10 years in jail and a fine.

Those who transfer benefits from their criminal conduct, or property which they have reasonable grounds to believe is another person’s benefits from criminal conduct, can be fined up to S$500,000 or jailed for up to 10 years, or both.

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Top photos via Nelson Loh