A woman who tried to sell a condo held in trust for her son had her application rejected by the High Court after failing to disclose key facts about her past — including her husband’s death, failed insurance lawsuit, and name changes.
The condominium unit, bought for S$1.8 million in 2019, was held in trust for her then six-year-old son. The woman, Ms Cheryl Tan Yi Lin, told the court she wanted to sell it as she had found a buyer offering S$2.28 million, CNA reported.
But on 31 Oct, Justice Choo Han Teck dismissed her application, saying she had not been forthcoming with the court.
When the case was first heard on 21 Oct, Justice Choo questioned why Ms Tan’s husband was not a co-applicant and whether he had been served court papers.
Ms Tan’s lawyer, Ms Oei Su-Ying Renee Nicolette, returned to court on Oct 29 to clarify that Ms Tan’s husband had fallen to his death in 2016 while viewing a flat on the 33rd floor in Australia.
A coroner’s court in Victoria found the fall accidental, reported CNA.
Ms Tan also revealed that she had changed her name by deed poll in 1996 and 2007 for “feng shui reasons”.
In his judgment, Justice Choo noted that Ms Oei appeared “genuinely surprised” to learn that her client had been involved in multiple lawsuits.
A cursory search done on 31 Oct showed a few lawsuits Ms Tan was involved in.
Source: Google
In one of the cases, Ms Tan tried to claim S$1 million under an AIA Singapore life insurance policy for her husband’s death.
She later sued AIA Singapore but lost the case, as her husband had failed to disclose seven other insurance applications amounting to S$6.25 million.
Source: e-Litigation SG website
These policies were taken out between May and July 2014, including a 66-year term policy with Prudential.
Both Ms Tan and her late husband had worked as insurance agents for AIA Singapore.
Justice Choo said Ms Tan sought to sell the condominium “simply because the value has increased.” That, he said, was not a valid reason for a trustee to liquidate a trust asset.
“A trustee’s duty is to protect the trust assets and not deal with it, unless specifically empowered by the trust to do so,” said Justice Choo.
Source: Geo’s Gallery on Canva. Image for illustrative purposes only.
He added that the court must be assured the trust was not created to avoid additional buyer’s stamp duties, and that Ms Tan had an obligation to make full disclosure of her assets and liabilities.
“In this case, there are no reassuring facts, only disconcerting facts of the non-disclosure,” he said.
She was supposed to make full disclosure of her personal assets and liabilities. If her husband had been alive, the court “may also want to know whether the trust had been created to protect their assets from their creditors”, the judge said.
“The non-disclosure of the husband’s death and the failed legal proceedings add to the furtive nature of this application,” Justice Choo pointed out.
Justice Choo ultimately dismissed Ms Tan’s application, saying the non-disclosure of her husband’s death, failed legal proceedings, and financial details made the case too concerning to approve.
“The first applicant has not been forthcoming, and I am not at all comfortable to grant her application.”
Also read: Judge rejects woman’s claim that she owns 99% of Bukit Timah condo mostly funded by ex-boyfriend
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