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The Bellagraph Nova Group were one of the more bizarre (see below) parties claimed to supposedly be trying to buy Newcastle United.
A massive embarrassment for the media, especially certain local north east media, who didn’t do ‘due diligence’ and reported on them as serious potential new owners of Newcastle United.
In August 2020, the Bellagraph Nova Group made a laughable statement saying they were in ongoing talks with Ashley’s representatives to buy the club and that they had now reached the point where they had shown proof of funds to Mike Ashley in order to buy Newcastle United. With a club purchase set to happen in the very near future, according to them…
Newcastle fans were though treating this one with some doubt, about on the same level as certain journalists pushing Henry Mauriss as a credible buyer of this football club.
Very quickly after more credible media (see below) exposed what a joke the Bellagraph Nova Group were as potential buyers of Newcastle United. One of the three people behind the Bellagraph Nova Group, Nelson Loh, went on the run in 2020 from the authorities in Singapore, for alleged offences including forgery.
Eventually arrested in 2022, Nelson Loh has now been tried and convicted, sentenced to 15 years and nine months in jail for forgery, money laundering and ‘cheating’.
Bangkok Post report – 17 August 2024:
‘SINGAPORE – A former director of Novena Global Healthcare Group (NGHG) was on Friday jailed for 15 years and nine months.
Nelson Loh Ne-Loon was found guilty on nine charges – four for cheating, three for money laundering and two for forgery. A total of 60 other similar charges were also considered in the sentencing.
Loh previously made the news in 2020 when he became part of a trio of investors looking to buy English Premier League club Newcastle United. A deal never materialised.’
The Mag report – 28 December 2022:
It was always a good laugh reading about the Bellagraph Nova Group.
Not so funny maybe for the media, especially certain local north east media, who reported on them as serious potential new owners of Newcastle United
Back in August 2020, the Bellagraph Nova Group made a statement saying they were in ongoing talks with Ashley’s representatives to buy the club and that they had now reached the point where they had shown proof of funds to Mike Ashley in order to buy Newcastle United. With a club purchase set to happen in the very near future, according to them…
Newcastle fans were though treating this one with some doubt, about on the same level as certain journalists pushing Henry Mauriss as a credible buyer of this football club.
As various media (see below) exposed the Bellagraph Nova Group claims of being a massive global entity with a $12billion turnover, 23,000 employees and a substantial HQ based now in Paris, putting doctored photos of Barack Obama on their website and press releases, that still didn’t stop their claims…
Even when (see below) it was shown the big Paris HQ was a delusion and indeed the Bellagraph Nova Group HQ remained in Singapore, a fourth floor office above a pet shop and restaurant.
In October 2020, one of the three Bellagraph Nova Group co-founders, Evangeline Shen, told the BBC that they were still going ahead with their supposed plans to buy Newcastle United and were allegedly still in ongoing talks with Mike Ashley’s representatives to buy Newcastle United.
Terence Loh, Nelson Loh and Evangeline Shen were the three co-founders but at that point they went down to two.
The Straits Times back then gave an intriguing / amusing update on the state of play with the Bellagraph Nova Group, revealing that as well as no longer working with the other two partners, Nelson Loh had done a disappearing act, along with employee Wong Soon Yuh.
Fast forwarding to the present day and now the media in Singapore have updated on this story, mothership.sg reporting that after over two years on the run, the former Bellagraph Nova Group partner and supposed buyer of Newcastle United, Nelson Loh, has finally been apprehended.
They state that Nelson Loh and Wong Soon Yuh were at last caught up with in China on Christmas Eve and after having been returned to Singapore, on Boxing Day the pair charged with two counts of forgery.
Days after they disappeared back in 2020, the Police received a report that signatures of accounting firm Ernst & Young had been forged on some of NHGH’s financial statements.
The pair allegedly forged audited financial statements of NGHG in 2019 and used those statements to obtain bank loans amounting to S$18 million (approx £11m).
Friday 21 August 2020 – A brilliant piece from Reuters looked into the credentials of the Bellagraph Nova Group:
BNG claiming to have that turnover of $12billion in 2019 and to having 23,000 employees, they also claimed that their main headquarters were now in Paris BUT Reuters could find no records of a company called Bellagraph Nova Group registered in France.
In addition, Reuters could not find any company by that name at the address it had been given as the BNG HQ (10 Place Vendome), one of their reporters visited the address and there is an office rental business operated by Regus in the building, with a receptionist saying BNG Group has used some office space there but its staff were not always present….
Bellagraph Nova Group do indeed have an office in Singapore and Reuters visited it, they reported that it was on the top floor of a four storey building, above a pet shop and a restaurant.
As it happens, Newcastle fan and long time contributor to The Mag, Jonathan Drape-Comyn, at that time (2020) lived in Singapore. So after the piece by Reuters, Jonathan had a walk around to the Bellagraph Nova Group Singapore HQ and saw for himself their less than convincing premises.
As a Newcastle fan, you wonder just what would have happened if these Bellagraph Nova Group characters (or similar) had somehow got hold of our club…

 
