Chinese businessman alleges $74m theft by staff of Singapore-based family office

An ultra-high-net-worth Chinese businessman is suing four former employees here for allegedly stealing from his Singapore-based companies, Panda Enterprise and Lee Fung International (LFI), through fraudulent transactions and fabricated claims over the years.

- Angela Tan

Mr Zhong Renhai alleged that the four former employees had abused his trust and confidence by siphoning $74 million into their own accounts over the years, or by misusing money belonging to him without authorisation.

He has sought a court order that grants a worldwide freeze and proprietary injunctions against Ms Goh Sock Ngee, Ms Lim Wee Siew, Ms Eileen Ealham, Mr Yap Shin Tze and Singa Wealth (BVI) Holdings Ltd, an entity set up and controlled by the former employees who were all shareholders.

They were the only Singapore-based staff of LFI at the material time between May 2015 and February 2024.

On March 14, the Singapore High Court upheld a worldwide freezing order against the former employees and Singa Wealth.

Also known as a Mareva injunction, the court order prevents a party from disposing of or dealing with their assets.

In granting what has been famously alluded to as one of the "nuclear weapons" of civil litigation, Senior Judge Tan Siong Thye said Mr Zhong has shown a "good arguable case" and produced evidence of fraud and dishonesty, establishing a "real risk of dissipation" of the defendants' assets.

"On the face of the report, it seems clear that Zhong has a solid ground to allege that there were certain unauthorised payments made from his personal account, or LFI's, and these transactions were orchestrated by one or more of the defendants," the senior judge said.

The case first came to light in December 2023, when Mr Zhong discovered discrepancies in financial records.