When a friend borrows over $500k but refuses to pay it back

Think hard before lending someone money and make sure you have records of the loan

- Tan Ooi Boon

Tales of people taking advantage of their friends when it comes to borrowing money are all too familiar, but what makes this case stand out is the eye-watering amount involved — $500,000.

This saga of betrayal began, as so many do, with a sob story: A corporate consultant (we shall call her Nancy) saw her business partner (Susan) seemingly sad and distressed at the office one night.

Nancy stopped for a chat and Susan poured out her woes, relating how her cheating husband had forged her signature to withdraw money from her bank account and how he had abused her over the years.

The intimate chat soon led to the women becoming friends, with Nancy constantly offering comfort as she listened to Susan's problems.

Of course, it was never about money at first but barely a month later, money was everything when Susan called Nancy in a panic and said she needed funds to solve her company's cash flow problems.

Nancy didn't blink and wrote a cheque for $15,000 to help her friend. She didn't even hesitate four days later when Susan asked for $59,800.

Her generosity was soon being abused, with Susan asking for more and more money almost every month because going to her friend for interest-free loans was far better than going to a bank.

While it was reasonable not to charge for a friendly loan, it was befuddling why Nancy continued to indulge Susan's unscrupulous move of asking for a further 40 loans over the next three years that amounted to a total of $500,000.

Nancy tried to ask for her money back but she could not get past Susan's lame excuses, some of which were plain incredible.

Susan would offer plausible excuses such as her divorce proceedings being delayed, to seemingly absurd ones such as her four brothers and a nephew dying one after another. After "killing" off all her male relatives, she then switched to her nieces and claimed one of them had been paralysed.