Singapore court slams bid to unlock seized funds tied to alleged scam kingpin

SINGAPORE: A former employee of alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi has been denied her attempt to regain access to millions of dollars in frozen assets, after a Singapore district court dismissed her application last week.

The case centres on Ms Ng, who worked as the human resources manager at Chen’s Singapore-based family office, DW Capital. In November last year, she made an application on behalf of Karen Chen Xiuling, the office’s remaining director. Karen Chen, sanctioned by the United States, remains outside Singapore despite repeated requests to assist in ongoing investigations.

Ms Ng’s application sought funds to cover the company’s day-to-day expenses: over S$332,000 for unpaid salaries, S$459,000 for corporate taxes, and roughly S$102,000 each month for future operating costs.

However, District Judge Kok Shu-en expressed doubts about whether Ms Ng, whose responsibilities were limited to recruitment and payroll, had the authority or knowledge to speak on the companies’ broader finances.

“Even though Ms Ng resigned from the firm in October, she was somehow able to clearly detail the non-liquid assets held by the four companies,” the judge wrote in her Jan 7, 2026 judgment. “Her affidavit did not disclose the sources of her information, leaving open questions about its reliability.”

The judge also noted that three of the companies were connected to foreign entities, and that Chen himself remained the ultimate beneficiary of all four firms. Given the complexity and transnational nature of the ongoing investigations into suspected money laundering, she ruled that the seized properties must remain preserved.

The companies involved—DW Capital, Capital Zone Warehousing, Skyline Investment Management, and Citylink Solutions—are tied to Chen either directly or through his British Virgin Islands-registered family office, Global Treasure Development. Three of the four are on the US Treasury sanctions list.

Chen’s legal troubles escalated on Oct 14, 2025, when the US and UK sanctioned him, his Prince Group, and close associates over allegations of money laundering, wire fraud, and operating forced-labour scam compounds in Cambodia. Cambodia later revoked Chen’s citizenship in December 2025.

Authorities around the world have since seized enormous assets linked to Chen, including nearly 130,000 bitcoins valued at roughly US$15 billion (S$19.2 billion) and 19 London properties, including one worth almost £100 million (S$173 million).

In Singapore, more than S$3.5 million in Maybank accounts and US$513,000 in Revolut accounts under the four companies were frozen—the very funds Ms Ng sought to access. Inquiries by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) hinted that these accounts held earnings from illicit actions associated with Chen or his contacts and acquaintances. CAD has also uncovered additional assets, including cheques worth S$3.7 million, bonds valued at US$200,000, and security deposits of S$362,200.

Clarence Lun Yaodong, the applicants’ lawyer, said the team is reviewing the court’s judgment before deciding on the next steps.

The case highlights the reach of Chen’s alleged empire, described by US authorities as a transnational criminal network. Detectives in Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong remain vigilant about his associates and continue to act against his assets, a chunk of the global initiative to unravel the mesh of assumed offences surrounding him.