S'pore woman sues man she had 29-year affair with for over S$578,000, ex-husband says he treated him as family friend

Two former lovers filed lawsuits against each other over the money they had exchanged between themselves during their years together, following the end of their extramarital affair that lasted nearly 30 years.

The man, Chan Tuck Cheong, had sued the woman, Sin Wee Hiong, alleging that she still owes him S$222,000 out of the S$495,000 he had lent her.

However, Sin denied owing him any money and instead claimed that she had lent him over S$1 million, of which S$578,000 has yet to be repaid.

The High Court dismissed Chan's claim and allowed Sin's counter-claim, in a written judgement on Jan. 5.

Judge dismissed Chan's claim

According to Sin, in 2013, Chan had borrowed S$800,000 from her after she and her then-husband remortgaged their matrimonial home in Serangoon Gardens for S$1.26 million.

He had apparently told her that he needed the money to redevelop his landed property in Bedok.

According to the judge, Sin's case rested on a document signed by Chan acknowledging an S$800,000 loan.

While Chan admitted to signing the document, he denied receiving the money, adding that he was asked to sign the document so that Sin could show it to her husband.

He alleged that Sin needed money for gambling and had thus planned to persuade her husband to take out a bank loan by misleading him into thinking the money would be lent to Chan.

However, the judge ruled that Chan failed to prove the signed acknowledgement was a sham document.

Determined that Chan received S$800,000

According to the judgement paper, as the incident took place a long time ago, neither of them was able to provide bank records that could confirm if Chan had received the S$800,000.

The onus was on the claimant to prove that there was an intention to deceive Sin's husband, the judge said, adding that stronger evidence was required.

He later determined that Sin had in fact lent Chan S$800,000 in 2013, and concluded that the transfers Chan made to Sin between 2017 and 2021 were partial repayments of that loan.

The judge also held that 12 additional transfers from Sin to Chan between 2018 and 2019 were new loans, adding that she had provided evidence to support her claim that Chan needed the money for his business and his daughter's overseas studies.

The two are business partners

Chan and Sin are business partners in TC Sin & Associates, an engineering consultancy firm founded by Sin's father in 1972.

Chan joined the firm in 1990 and became a partner in 1994.

He later established several other companies, including ICPH International.

Chan and Sin began their affair in 1993, while they were still married to their respective spouses.

Sin later divorced her husband in 2017.

The judgement noted that the pair were heavy gamblers, who often visited the Resorts World Sentosa casino together.

Sin became a partner of TC Sin & Associates in 2019, and was, on several occasions, a director or shareholder in Chan's companies.

Sin's former husband regarded Chan as a colleague and friend

Sin's former husband, Chow Kwong Wah, also worked at TC Sin & Associates as a clerk of works, and was also a project manager at ICPH from 2013 to 2015.

Chow testified that he had regarded Chan as both a colleague and family friend.

He said that he was not well-off, adding that Sin’s parents had paid for their honeymoon, as well as a significant portion of the cost of their matrimonial home.

Given this context, it was understandable that Chow deferred to Sin in terms of financial matters, as he was aware that he had contributed little towards the property, the judge noted.

Chow said that as he was not thinking about money at the time, the outstanding balance of the S$800,000 loan was not listed as a matrimonial asset during their divorce proceedings.

He added that he had agreed to a simplified track divorce, on the condition that Sin continued to stay with him and his children for three years following the divorce, adding that he still loved her and did not want to cause distress to their children and grandchildren.

The affair ended in 2022.

Sin later brought a minority oppression suit against Chan a year later, in May 2023, citing actions such as her removal as a director of one of his companies.

Two months later, in July 2023, ICPH sued Sin, seeking recovery of more than S$69,000 in outstanding loans.

Chan filed the present suit the following month, and both parties agreed to proceed with the current suit while the two other cases were placed on hold.

Top photos via Canva