SINGAPORE – Months before she went missing, the wife of a prominent Sarawakian businessman sued her estranged husband in Singapore, accusing him of forging her signature to obtain her shares in a Singapore company.
Mr Thomas Hah responded with a counterclaim, accusing his wife Pamela Ling of wrongfully seizing control of his company, which owns six commercial properties in Singapore.
On April 9, Ms Ling, 42, was reportedly abducted in Putrajaya, near Kuala Lumpur, while she was on her way to give a statement to the Malaysian anti-graft agency in relation to a corruption and money-laundering investigation involving her and her husband.
Her disappearance grabbed headlines in the country after her brother issued a statement to the media on May 2.
Seven months on, as Ms Ling remains missing, Mr Hah, 56, moved forward with his counterclaim.
On Oct 21, the High Court granted judgment in his favour after a one-day trial.
Mr Hah testified via video link from Malaysia while two of his employees took the stand in person.
Justice Chua Lee Ming ruled that Mr Hah was the owner of the company, Multi Galaxy, and that Ms Ling’s registered shares in the firm were held on trust for Mr Hah.
The judge found that Ms Ling had wrongfully transferred 279,650 shares to herself in December 2023 and that her removal of Mr Hah as director was invalid.
He also ordered Ms Ling to pay a sum of $203,281.68 she had wrongfully transferred out of Mr Hah’s bank account in October 2023, and rental proceeds of $155,903.23 from two properties.
The two residential properties, one in Lincoln Road and the other in Upper East Coast Road, are registered in their joint names.
During the hearing, Justice Chua noted that Mr Hah could have sought a default judgment, without a trial, due to Ms Ling’s absence.
But Mr Hah’s lawyer, Mr Chew Xiang from Rajah & Tann, said his client wanted to proceed on the merits of his case.
