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SINGAPORE: A businessman married to the founder of Healing the Divide, a group known for its stance against vaccination, went on trial on Monday (Jul 6) on charges of cheating.
Raymond Ng Kai Hoe, a 53-year-old Singaporean man, is contesting six charges of cheating six people into paying more than S$25,000 (US$19,326) in total to his company, Candle Consulting, between August 2019 and October 2020.
The four men and two women were allegedly deceived into believing they would be acquiring co-ownership of coffee vending machines and dishonestly induced into making payments ranging from amounts of S$2,500 to S$7,700 to Candle Consulting.
The prosecution proceeded with these six charges and asked that the remaining six be stood down temporarily while the trial proceeds.
Before beginning, District Judge Lim Tse Haw asked Ng why he was late. Ng apologised and said had been delayed as his wife was unwell.
Ng's wife, Iris Koh, has been on trial for separate charges linked to COVID-19 vaccines for several months. The case was most recently heard earlier this month and has been adjourned to a pre-trial conference on Jul 27.
Raymond Ng Kai Hoe (right) arriving at the State Courts with his wife Iris Koh on Jul 6, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
He added that he had informed the investigating officer at about 9.27am. The case was fixed for 9.30am.
Judge Lim told him to make sufficient allowance for transport in future so he can be in court punctually.
Ng then asked to be seated at the bar as he was self-represented and needed power sources. The request was not granted.
He also asked to be allowed some time off to settle civil proceedings that are running parallel to this case. The judge told him to make his application nearer the date of those proceedings.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Jordon Li and Hui Choon Kuen said they would be calling eight witnesses for the trial.
STRIPE WITNESS
The first witness for the prosecution was Ms How Kai Xin, a legal process specialist for payments company Stripe.
Ng's company, Candle Consulting, had used Stripe to process payments from customers.
Ng cross-examined Ms How at length, asking her numerous questions about how Stripe works. She said many of the questions were beyond her scope and was unable to answer them.
At about 4pm, Mr Li, one of the prosecutors, intervened, and said it had not even been established that Ms How could speak for Stripe in the capacity Ng was addressing.
At one point, Ng told Ms How she was not there to agree or disagree, but Judge Lim told him she was entitled to do so. Later, Ng accused Ms How of looking at someone in the audience.
When Judge Lim sought to clarify Ms How's evidence, Ng tried to interject. At one point, the judge told him not to interrupt.
With the judge's help in rephrasing the questions, Ms How eventually agreed with Ng that a card user's authorisation of a payment is different from the bank's final processing of that payment.
The trial continues, with alleged victims lined up to testify for the prosecution once Ms How concludes her evidence.
If convicted of cheating, Ng could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined per charge.
