Zhong Renhai sues ex-employees for US$56 million fraud

Zhong Renhai, the owner of Lee Fung International (LFI), has filed a lawsuit against four former employees. He claims they committed fraud, resulting in a loss of US$56 million. The lawsuit alleges that these employees created fake documents to steal funds from Zhong’s family office, Panda Enterprise, based in Singapore. A judge has ordered that the assets of the employees and a company linked to them in the British Virgin Islands be frozen. Zhong discovered the alleged fraud in December 2023. By January 2024, he had removed the employees from their positions. Forensic accountants later revealed that approximately S$74 million had been wrongly taken from his accounts. This case comes as Singapore is working to position itself as a leading wealth management hub, with over 2,000 family offices operating in the city by the end of last year.