Disappearance of ICBC banker linked to Macau billionaire’s troubled real estate empire

A senior Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) executive, Jiang Yisheng, has vanished amid investigations into a troubled Macau real estate project tied to disgraced billionaire David Ng Lap Seng, sources told Caixin Global.

Jiang’s disappearance comes as ICBC Macau grapples with rising nonperforming loans and legal actions against Ng’s family over outstanding debts.

Jiang Yisheng, a veteran banker and former chairman of ICBC’s Macau branch from 2018 to 2023, has become unreachable, sparking speculation that authorities have taken him into custody.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the matter told Caixin Global that Jiang’s disappearance likely relates to a real estate loan issued during his tenure at ICBC Macau, specifically linked to the Windsor Arch luxury residential development.

The project is closely connected to David Ng Lap Seng, former chairman of the Sun Kian Ip Group, one of the Windsor Arch’s developers.

Ng’s son, Ng Kei Nin, also served as a director of the company that provided the land for the development.

ICBC Macau reportedly took disciplinary action against Jiang earlier this year due to significant flaws in the collateral backing the loan, though the exact loan amount remains undisclosed.

On June 18, the Macau Court of First Instance announced that ICBC Macau had applied to freeze assets belonging to Ng Lap Seng, his son, and their affiliates to recover outstanding debts.

The court’s order includes nearly 80 parking spaces, more than 40 office units, bank deposits, and stock holdings valued at over MOP1.7 million (approximately USD210,000).

The Rise and Fall

Born in mainland China in 1948, Ng Lap Seng moved to Macau at age 30 and built a real estate empire that once made him one of the region’s wealthiest figures, with a fortune estimated at around MOP 10 billion.

Ng was also politically influential, serving as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s top political advisory body.

His reputation, however, became tarnished by multiple criminal scandals.

In 2017, Ng Lap Seng was convicted by a U.S. federal court of bribing United Nations officials, including former UN General Assembly President John Ashe and Ambassador Francis Lorenzo, to secure official UN support for a multi-billion-dollar conference center he planned to build in Macau.

After a four-week trial, Ng was found guilty on all six counts he faced, including bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy, for his role in a years-long scheme involving over USD1.3 million in bribes to UN officials.

In 2018, Ng was sentenced to four years in prison and fined USD1 million. His conviction was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, confirming his involvement in an international bribery scheme aimed at obtaining formal UN backing for the Macau project.

He initially received a four-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania but was released early in 2021 on medical grounds after serving just under three years.

Meanwhile in Macau, his 15-year sentence related to a separate corruption and money laundering case, tied to former top officials from the public works sector, was significantly reduced to two and a half years following extended legal negotiations in 2023.