Millionaire hides assets from ex-wife, says only $12k in bank accounts

Judge describes case as one of 'most brazen attempts to shield assets in divorce proceedings'

- Tan Ooi Boon

A wealthy foreign businessman caught up in a bitter divorce defied repeated Singapore court orders in a shameless and ultimately futile attempt to stop his spouse getting her hands on any of his considerable wealth.

His antics – part comical, part absurd – were so outrageous that they prompted the presiding judge to express contempt for his behaviour, noting that it was "seemingly without equal" in Singapore courts.

The man's scheming included telling the court that he had only $12,000 or so in his bank accounts.

The 39-year-old entrepreneur also claimed that he was self-employed and earning just $7,500 a month but did not produce any documents to back this up, contending that he had not filed a tax return since 2020.

Indeed, he refused to disclose any useful information about his net worth despite being ordered to do so repeatedly by the court.

This was perhaps the most audacious ploy ever used here to keep a former spouse from getting any money, but it was his 38-year-old former wife who had the last laugh after she produced business registration data to show that the man had, at the very least, a $10 million stake in an overseas business.

As the man had made only bare denials without any proof, the entire $10 million was up for division, which resulted in the wife being given about $7 million.

High Court Judge Mohamed Faizal noted that this case involved one of the most brazen attempts to shield assets in divorce proceedings the Singapore courts have seen.

He found that the husband had hidden almost the entirety of his assets over the years in order to do his best to "shoehorn the court from being able to sensibly dispense justice".

In doing so, the man produced a myriad of excuses to claim there was no evidence showing the value of his assets, so he should be allowed to declare these to be worthless.