Jail for wife of ex-Citiraya boss accused of pocketing US$51 million from sale of embezzled computer chips
Thor Chwee Hwa and her husband, former Citiraya Industries CEO Ng Teck Lee, spent nearly two decades on the run before the law caught up with them.
by Koh Wan Ting · CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
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SINGAPORE: The wife of a former electronics recycling firm boss accused of embezzling uncrushed computer chips and selling them for more than US$51 million (S$64.6 million) was jailed on Friday (May 8) after allowing a bank account in her name to be used for the scheme.
Thor Chwee Hwa, 57, is the wife of Ng Teck Lee, former president and CEO of electronics recycling firm Citiraya Industries.
The couple fled Singapore in the early 2000s and were only arrested in December 2024, nearly two decades later.
Thor was handed a jail term of one year and 10 months by the State Courts after pleading guilty to one count of assisting Ng to retain the benefits of criminal conduct.
Ng's case is still pending before the courts.
Citiraya recycled electronic waste on behalf of computer chip manufacturers such as AMD, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and Intel, by extracting precious metals while processing chips.
Between April 2003 and November 2004, Ng allegedly misappropriated uncrushed computer chips.
With the assistance of his chief financial officer Gan Chin Chin, Ng purportedly used intermediaries, including shell companies, to sell the chips to overseas syndicates for repackaging and sale as standard products.
Ng received more than US$51 million from the sale of the misappropriated computer chips.
Under his instructions, Gan credited the ill-gotten gains to four bank accounts.
At the time, Thor was a housewife. Ng would transfer money into Thor's personal bank accounts for household expenses or her personal spending.
HELPED OPEN BANK ACCOUNT
Before Jun 20, 2003, Ng allegedly instructed his subordinates to have Thor open a bank account and appoint himself with a limited power of attorney over the account.
Gan would operate the account on his behalf and Thor was unaware of these instructions.
Under Ng's instructions, an unidentified female Citiraya employee brought Thor to open a bank account. Thor knew that she was with an employee of the firm, and that the account was associated with Citiraya.
She knew that she did not have any reason to be opening an account to be used by the company, as she was not an employee.
She also knew that she would not have control over the account.
She did not keep any of the documents after the account was opened and did not have anything more to do with it.
On Jul 10, 2003, less than two weeks after Thor opened the account, it received US$1,149,425 from another account linked to the scheme.
The funds were then transferred out by various means by Gan, including through the purchase of foreign currencies or securities.
FLED SINGAPORE
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigated Citiraya between late 2004 and early 2005 after receiving information on suspected corrupt practices.
Thor was invited to CPIB to assist with investigations on Jan 21, 2005, and was questioned about Ng’s activities. She was released on the same day.
On Jan 28, 2005, Thor left Singapore with her daughter, a Rolex watch and some gold jewellery after the same female employee who had brought her to open the bank account told her to leave.
Thor then met Ng overseas and stayed in China. While residing there, the couple obtained false identities as Indonesian nationals, with Thor assuming the name "Jane Lim Siu Mei".
She also obtained identity documents from the Marshall Islands.
Later, the pair applied to reside in Malaysia under the “Malaysia My Second Home” programme using their false identities.
They stayed at a residence initially owned by Thor's brother that was later transferred to her. Her family also financially supported her from time to time.
Thor subsequently sent her daughter back to Singapore before 2013 to be cared for by her mother.
After the pair fled Singapore, proceedings were initiated against Ng over the pocketing of US$51 million. Out of this, only US$23 million was recovered.
When they were arrested, the couple still had the equivalent of around S$839,131.92 in foreign currency assets under their control.
Thor was arrested in Malaysia on Dec 3, 2024, and was repatriated to Singapore the same day.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
The prosecution sought 21 to 27 months' jail.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Hon Yi, Shaun Lim, and Emily Zhao said Thor had relinquished control of the account and turned a blind eye to its misuse.
They also cited the transnational nature of the case and the seriousness of Ng’s offences as aggravating factors.
The prosecution also argued for an uplift of six to nine months’ jail on account of Thor's abscondment.
Prosecutors argued that Thor’s abscondment should be treated as conduct tending to obstruct justice, which could have constituted an offence under the Penal Code punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
"The sheer duration of absconding would bring this case within the worst class of cases under (Sections) 172 or 174 of the Penal Code, justifying no less than the maximum sentence had a potential separate charge been brought," the prosecutors said.
Thor's lawyer Andre Jumabhoy objected to that characterisation, adding that it came with a "degree of exaggeration".
He pointed out that his client had not absconded while on bail or while claiming trial.
He urged the court to sentence his client to between 17.5 and 19.5 months' jail, which he said was "sufficient to reflect her overall criminality".
District Judge Ong Luan Tze accepted that Thor was not the "main player" in the offences, but found that the harm was significant given the large sums involved and the case’s transnational nature.
She found Thor’s absconding to be an aggravating factor, reflecting a disregard for authority and a lack of remorse.
While Thor had not been on bail or charged when she fled, this was only one factor, Judge Ong said.
"The reality is that, as a result of her actions, the proper operation of the law had been frustrated for almost 20 years," said the judge.
She found an uplift of six months warranted.
For assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct, Thor could have been jailed for up to seven years or fined up to S$200,000, or both.
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