Mother of Sheng Siong bosses, who was kidnapped in 2014, dies at 91

Ng Lye Poh, the mother of Sheng Siong founders, has died.

According to the obituary, Ng passed away on Sep. 5 at 7:20am at the age of 91.

Ng, also known as the "Sheng Siong Ah Ma", was the victim of a high-profile kidnapping case in 2014.

She was remembered as an easy going and affable person.

Speaking to Lianhe Zaobao at the wake, her second son Lim Hock Chee said that the bereavement money will be donated to charity.

The kidnap case

Lim also recalled the kidnapping case, describing it as nerve-racking when he received the call from the kidnapper.

On Jan. 8, 2014, Ng was kidnapped by Lee Sze Yong and demanded S$20 million in ransom.

Lee told the court he had planned this for over two years after falling into S$200,000 in debt, CNA reported.

He decided that kidnapping Ng would help him, his mother, and his partner, Heng Chen Boon, be financially better off.

After going through Forbes magazine's "Singapore's richest" list for potential targets, he settled on Lim Hock Chee, who was worth S$500 million at the time.

Lee spent months gathering information.

On the morning of the incident, Lee approached Ng on an overhead bridge along Hougang Avenue 2 and lied to her that her son had fallen in the office.

Lee tricked Ng into getting into her car, then blindfolded her and drove her around, CNA wrote.

Lee then asked Heng to meet him at Punggol End, where Heng asked who Ng was, but was told not to ask questions.

Lee later confessed that he had kidnapped Ng.

When Lim made the ransom drop at Sembawang Park, the police caught Lee and Heng before they got the money.

Lee, who initially asked to be hanged, was sentenced to jail for life and three strokes of the cane.

Heng was sentenced to three years' jail.