S'pore woman, 38, claims to own 99% of S$1.8 million Bukit Timah condo bought with ex-boyfriend, 35, judge rejects claim

A couple bought a S$1.865 million condominium unit at Hillcrest Arcadia, Bukit Timah, on Mar. 20, 2020, and registered their ownership in a 99:1 ratio, with the girlfriend, Millie Wong, 38, receiving 99 per cent of the share.

This was done mainly due to Wong's fear that her boyfriend, Jake Ngor, 35, would be unfaithful towards her.

They ended their relationship in November 2020.

They had rented out the property throughout their relationship.

Despite their breakup, Ngor and Wong maintained "relatively amicable" communications between 2020 and 2022.

They would primarily speak on administrative matters relating to the condo and the tenants.

Suggestion of sale of property

Ngor started suggesting the sale of the unit in 2022, with Wong even discussing the possibility of buying the property from him.

However, around December 2022 to January 2023, Wong started ignoring Ngor's messages.

On Jan. 18, 2023, after a brief exchange the day before, Wong sent a long message to Ngor asserting "for the first time" that she owned the entirety of her 99 per cent legal share of the unit.

This led to a heated argument and eventually Ngor suing Wong for a beneficial interest in the property proportionate to his financial contributions.

How it began

In his written judgement, senior judge Lee Seiu Kin analysed the conversations surrounding Wong's insecurity.

He noted that from the start of their relationship, Wong had displayed "significant insecurity".

One of her concerns revolved around Ngor's "growing wealth" and its potential to "attract other women".

The judgement said: "From the outset of the relationship, Millie displayed significant insecurity."

The judge cited a message on Jul. 19, 2018, which said: “U better sign a clause t[ha]t says if u cheat u will be a bankrupt... Ur hse ur kids ur cash... All mine”.

He noted that her insecurity was rooted in a fear that Ngor "may cheat on her in the future" and she wanted to make sure she had some form of security if this happened.

He then pointed to another conversation in Dec. 3, 2018 where this concern resurfaced.

This time, the judge noted that it had "crystallised into her desire to have their future property registered in her name".

Registering property under woman's name

In a prelude to the conversation laid out in the court documents, the two had a discussion on registering their first property together under her name for her own security.

Ngor had apparently been "hesitant" about the arrangement, which triggered Wong's doubts on the relationship.

They then had a back-and-forth on the possibility of having the property under Wong's name.

However, Ngor said he was "fine with having it under your name", but just needed assurance.

He eventually said he had to just trust that "if the time comes, (Wong) will handle it well" because there would not be any "black and white in it already".

Afterwards Ngor said that if he cheated, "take it away from me by all means".

Judge sides with man

In response to Ngor saying he hoped she would handle it well when the time comes, Wong, referring to her past relationships, said she had given the past boyfriend "back everything" and that was all she knew and how she would react, if the relationship was still on good terms.

Judge Lee pointed to this part of the conversation in siding with Ngor's version of the events, calling this the "only logical interpretation of the conversation".

He rejected Wong's "strained interpretation" of the events.

No promise of giving property away unconditionally

Wong's interpretation was that Ngor had allegedly promised "the property would belong to her unconditionally and in this conversation tried to introduce a condition that ownership would be conditional upon [Jake] cheating on her”.

The judge wrote that there was "absolutely no suggestion" that Jake had promised to give Wong the property unconditionally.

The judge also pointed to a conversation later on in the relationship, which he said showcased the deterrent purpose of nominally registering the house under Wong's name.

Would only take his assets if he cheated

During a quarrel about Ngor's promise of keeping all his money with Wong after they get married, Wong said she would sign a contract that she would not take half of Ngor's assets, unless he cheats on her.

Ngor responded to this by saying, "I still havent gave you enough ah".

Wong replied that he had, and that was why she felt assured so far.

However, she did say that if he was indeed considering cheating on her, he would think "3-4 times" because of what he had given her.

Later while arguing over the issue of money, Ngor made a reference to the placing of the house under her name:

"The house, I did it willingly. You didn’t have to ask me to do it. Was I afraid you will run away with the house? Who wouldn’t. But at that time and day, I still went ahead with it and did I feel pressured into it? No."

Man afraid woman would run away with the house

The judge found Ngor's admission that Wong might “run away with the house” particularly telling.

He noted that the fear was fundamentally incompatible with an intention to make an unconditional and immediate gift to Millie through his financial contributions to the property, saying one who truly intends to gift another with a "piece of property" cannot logically fear that the recipient might “run away” with what would rightfully be theirs.

Ngor himself said this during cross-examination:

“If it’s a gift to Millie, why would I be afraid she would run away with the house? … If I receive a Christmas present on Christmas Day, would the giver be afraid that I will [run away with] the present?”.

The judge noted that the evidence clearly shows that any intended benefit would be conditional upon Jake’s infidelity, which the judge noted that there was no evidence or suggestion of such.

Beneficial interest

With regards to the beneficial interest, which is the right to share the benefits of a property, even if they are not a legal owner after considering their financial contributions, the judge found that Ngor owned a 54.22 per cent beneficial interest in the property.

According to The Straits Times, in Singapore when there is evidence that a person contributed to the purchase of a property, the registered owner is considered to be holding the property, or part of it, on trust for the contributor.

The judge then considered whether Ngor's claim was precluded by illegality.

This issue of legality stemmed from the "undisputed fact" that one of the reasons the parties deliberately registered the property in the ownership ratio of 99:1 was to avoid paying additional buyer's stamp duty if and when they were to purchase a second property.

The judge said while what the parties planned to do may amount to understamping, which he also noted was not a criminal offence, more importantly, he said the parties had no nefarious intention or even knowledge that this might have been an unlawful act.

This strategy, the judge stressed, was different from the "99-1" arrangements, where a single transaction was staggered into multiple transactions to evade the proper amount of stamp duty, which the government has clamped down on.

He also pointed to the fact that Ngor did not even know of the concept of beneficial interests until he was advised for the purposes of this suit.

You can read the full judgement here.

Image from Google/Aram Pan and Canva