Entrepreneur fails to stop bankruptcy action over $34 million business debt

Court rejects her plan to repay banks via sale of properties, revenue from leasing

- Toh Yong Chuan

An entrepreneur who owns 18 residential, retail and commercial properties in Orchard Road has failed in a High Court appeal to stop two banks from taking bankruptcy action against her to recover more than $34 million in business debts.

Ms Yap Shiaw Wei, 50, volunteered to repay RHB Bank and CIMB by selling her properties and using revenue from her property leasing business, but the court rejected her plan on Sept 10, saying that her proposal "was neither serious nor viable and was merely seeking to delay the inevitable".

In doing so, the court declined to allow Ms Yap to work out a voluntary repayment arrangement with the banks to avoid being declared bankrupt.

In its decision, the court set out how it assesses voluntary repayment proposals by debtors to fend off bankruptcy actions by creditors.

The decision comes at a time when bankruptcy-related actions are on the rise in Singapore: Latest official data shows that 2,334 applications bankruptcy were made in the first six months of 2024, up 25 per cent on the same period in 2023, while 594 were subsequently declared bankrupt, an increase of 11 per cent.

Ms Yap, described in court documents as a former finance professional, is the sole shareholder and director of various companies, including a property leasing business under the "Hovoh" brand. She owns 18 properties in Orchard Road: 13 at Centrepoint Orchard and five at Midpoint Orchard.

To operate and grow her business, she took both secured and unsecured loans from various banks and acted as a personal guarantor to the loans.

Among her debts are $25.9 million owed to RHB Bank and $8.4 million to CIMB.

In February 2024, CIMB applied to the High Court to have her declared bankrupt after she failed to pay debts that were due. RHB Bank followed suit in April.