April 22, 2024
SINGAPORE – The man allegedly linked to the murder of Singaporean architect Audrey Fang regularly travelled overseas for business and to attend dance parties, said those familiar with him.
Mitchell Ong, who was identified on April 20 by Spanish media as a suspect in the case, is a fitness enthusiast who frequented a gym in Orchard Road three to five times a week.
An acquaintance, who declined to be identified, said he knew that Ong, 43, often travelled overseas.
“He was nice during the interactions I had with him… I recall he likes to travel for business and raves,” he said.
A check on Ong’s Instagram account showed that he had attended several music festivals abroad. Between 2022 and 2024, he also travelled to different parts of Europe.
In a more recent post, he shared that he was in Alicante on April 4, the same day Ms Fang travelled alone to Xabia, which is about 80km away. In another post, Ong showed that he had purchased a gaming card valued at a few thousand dollars.
Ong, who described himself as being 1.88m tall on his Instagram page, was arrested in his hotel room in Alicante on April 16.
Another acquaintance of Ong, who also frequented the same gym, said the suspect had previously told him that he was working in the financial industry.
He recalled Ong being a bit of an “awkward” person who sported expensive sneakers.
“I would say he cared a lot about what he was wearing,” added the man, who is in his 20s.
A business colleague of Ong said they got to know each other about 15 years ago when he started providing marketing services to the suspect, including for an online IT store that was incorporated in 2013.
A search of business records showed the store is no longer in operation.
The man, who is in his 30s, said: “Generally, he was a nice person to work with, so I was quite shocked when I read the news.
“We stopped talking just before the pandemic, but I remember him as always being prompt with payments.
“The different projects I worked with him usually cost about $2,000 or so, depending on the specifics, but he was never a customer that I needed to badger for payments.
“He would check the work and if it was all good, he would pay up.”
However, a former director at the IT store had a different experience working with Ong.
The foreign national, who wanted to be known as John, said he was working in a computer store in Singapore when Ong visited as a customer.
They eventually became business partners when they started the IT store. Within a year, John, 36, said their business relationship had soured.
Before returning to his home country, John claimed Ong threatened that he would “make some problem” for John if he ever returned to Singapore.
“He is ambitious and organised, but the bad thing about him is his temper,” John added.
Ong, who was married in 2012, according to a Registry of Marriages search, had his hand in several businesses.
He is still listed as a director in a company based in Goldhill Shopping Centre that is involved in the insurance line.
A check by The Straits Times of the company’s address showed it is now occupied by an education centre.
On April 21, ST visited Ong’s residential address – a condominium unit in Bukit Timah. Several attempts to reach its occupants via an intercom outside the building were unsuccessful.
According to his LinkedIn page, which was removed on April 20 while he was in custody in Spain, he has been working as a private wealth management specialist since 2011.
He previously worked as a financial services consultant from 2014 to 2019, and a financial adviser from 2011 to 2013.
Ong is said to have studied economics at the National University of Singapore, and was previously from a popular all-boys secondary school and one of the top junior colleges here.
Spanish media La Verdad de Murcia, quoting sources close to the investigation, said on April 20 that an “economic motive” may be behind the murder. It said Ms Fang had made some investments, with recent transfers to an unidentified third person.
It added that officers from the Murcia Judicial Police, who searched the suspect’s hotel room, found Ms Fang’s mobile phone among his possessions.
Ms Fang, 39, went missing while on holiday in Xabia, in south-eastern Spain. She was seen alive on April 9 at 8.45pm (2.45am on April 10, Singapore time) on closed-circuit television cameras.
Her body was found the next day at a lorry park around 150km away, or about two hours’ drive from her hotel.
She was reportedly stabbed more than 30 times.