Laguna National club owner Peter Kwee and daughter Karen embroiled in property lawsuit

Jul 21, 2023


The King's Drive property, previously held under Karen Kwee's name, is the subject of a three-way tussle.
PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN, BT

A BUKIT Timah property previously held under the name of the daughter of motoring tycoon and Laguna National club owner Peter Kwee is now the subject of a three-way tussle, The Business Times (BT) has learnt.

The lawsuit will determine whether an alleged agreement involving an option to purchase (OTP) issued for the three-storey semi-detached house by Kwee’s daughter, Karen, is valid and binding. The action was filed before what is believed to be a mortgagee sale of the property in April 2023, after Karen was declared bankrupt in 2022. It is unclear why she was declared bankrupt.

Businessman Low Kai Yang, who described himself as a “former friend” of Karen, claimed that the property was used to secure an S$800,000 loan he agreed to lend to her.

In his statement of claim, Low claimed that from July 2020, Karen’s then-husband Daniel Au had informed him that Karen needed to borrow S$800,000.

According to Low, by way of a meeting with Au in September 2020, Karen agreed to grant him an OTP for the King’s Drive property if he lent her the sum of S$800,000. He would be able to exercise the option if the loan was not repaid.

On Sep 18, 2020, Au, Low and Karen met at HDB Hub, where Karen signed the OTP. Subsequently, Low handed over two cheques amounting to S$800,000, issued in Karen’s name.

Disputing this version of events, Karen disagreed that there was any loan agreement between the both of them.

In her defence and counterclaim, Karen said: “There was no agreement or understanding for any loan, security or option arrangements made between the plaintiff and (herself).

“Mr Au was the true borrower and beneficiary of the said funds from the plaintiff.”

Denying that the OTP she had issued was valid or binding, Karen described how on the morning she signed the document, Au had informed her he was taking a private loan, and the funds would be released if she could prove she owned the King’s Drive property.

According to the court documents, Karen was handed an OTP form to sign. She was allegedly not informed of any such arrangement for the option.

“When she was handed the option, she was taken by surprise and was caught off guard. When she tried to ask Mr Au what it was for, she was cut off and told to just sign,” the defence and counterclaim noted.

Au had allegedly assured Karen that he would repay Low within a year, and stressed that this was the only way for him to raise the money in time for a payment he had to make by 5 pm that day.

“(Karen) was pressured to sign the document and was told to stop wasting everyone’s time at the signing meeting. (She) was stunned by the events and felt compelled by her then-husband to comply,” the defence and counterclaim said.

Low lodged a caveat on the property in October 2020.

In July 2021, Low contacted Karen to remind her that the OTP was expiring in about two months’ time.

They agreed to meet on at least two occasions, in August 2021 and September 2021, but no agreement was reached on whether Karen would return the S$800,000 to Low, or allow him to extend the validity of the OTP.

On Sep 17, 2021, Low exercised the OTP, one day before it was due to expire. However, this was rejected by Karen, who informed Low of her decision through a lawyer’s letter issued to Dentons Rodyk, the law firm Low had appointed to represent him.

A few months after Low took action in court in January 2022, the elder Kwee submitted an affidavit to the court claiming that he – and not his daughter – was the true owner of the King’s Drive property.

He had been present at the meeting in August 2021 with Karen and Low, at which they discussed the OTP.

On Jul 15, 2022, the court ordered that Kwee would be added as a defendant to the action.

In his defence and counterclaim, Kwee asked for the option to be declared null and void. He claimed he had purchased the house sometime in 1997, in Karen’s name.

According to him, he had verbally discussed with Karen that he would pay for the house and she would hold it on trust, but he would remain its true beneficial owner.

He said in his defence and counterclaim that Karen had only informed him of the option in March 2021, which she had signed without his “knowledge, instructions or approval”.

More than a year since the case began, it is still pending in court.

However, BT has learnt that Karen has since been substituted by one Lai Seng Kwoon, after she was declared bankrupt in October 2022.

Those declared bankrupt will have their assets sold, with the proceeds distributed to their creditors to assist with debt settlement.

Lai is the private trustee appointed to manage Karen’s bankruptcy estate.

At a pre-trial conference in January 2023, Dentons Rodyk informed the court that there was likely to be a mortgagee action taken against the property.

Low is represented by Loh Kia Meng, senior partner of Dentons Rodyk and Philip Teh, an associate with the same firm.

Checks by BT showed that on Apr 5, 2023, the King’s Drive house was sold for S$4.2 million.

The sale is believed to have been the mortgagee sale initiated by Deutsche Bank.

It is unclear whether there were any balance of proceeds, and who would be awarded them.

According to past business records, Karen was named as director and/or employee of several yachting companies as well as entities related to Laguna National Golf and Country Club, which is now in liquidation and owes noteholders and other creditors some S$69.7 million.

As an alternative to being granted the OTP, Low is claiming for S$800,000 and 8 per cent interest on the sum of S$2.6 million, the purchase price he had stipulated from Dec 11, 2021, to the date of judgement.

On Friday (Jul 21), a hearing was held to allow for amendments to one of the party’s applications. The case continues.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/pro...operty-lawsuit