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SINGAPORE: Two men wanted by the police for the past two years for alleged forgery offences were arrested and charged in court on Monday (Dec 26).

One of them, Nelson Loh, was previously linked to a bid to buy English Premier League club Newcastle United.

Arrested along with Loh, who was a director of Novena Global Healthcare Group (NGHG) and its related companies, was Michael Wong – an NGHG employee who worked closely with him. The two Singaporeans, both 43, had left Singapore in early September 2020.

But soon after their departure, police received a report that signatures of accounting firm Ernst & Young had been forged on some of NHGH’s financial statements.

They had allegedly forged audited NGHG financial statements in 2019, and used those statements to obtain bank loans amounting to S$18 million, according to a police news release on Monday.

Loh had made the news in 2020 when he became part of a trio of investors looking at buying English Premier League club Newcastle United. A deal never materialised.

After the two men left Singapore, warrants of arrest and Interpol red notices were issued against them. Singapore police said that they returned to Singapore on Dec 24 with the cooperation and assistance of their counterparts in China. 

They were arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department on the same day.

An Interpol red notice is a request by a member country to locate and provisionally arrest a person based on an arrest warrant issued by the member country.

Both men were each charged with two counts of forgery offences. 

If convicted, they may be jailed up to 10 years and fined.

Director of Commercial Affairs Department David Chew said: “The Police will do whatever is necessary and legally permissible to detain and repatriate individuals hiding overseas, to face justice in Singapore.

“We will work with Interpol and our wide network of overseas law enforcement partners to locate persons who commit crimes in Singapore and attempt to evade justice by fleeing abroad.

“We appreciate the support and co-operation rendered by the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China in bringing these two individuals back to Singapore.”