Y
Yip Hon
Guest
.
Title: Dovechem founder on Interpol list
Source: Straits Times
Author: Khushwant Singh
A SINGAPOREAN businessman is wanted by Interpol on suspicion of forging documents in Jakarta.
Mr Ng Joo Soon, the founder of chemical solvent distributor Dovechem, is the target of an arrest warrant issued by the Indonesian authorities, according to the international police organisation's website.
The alleged offences took place early this year, although no more details were available.
News of the arrest warrant comes as a High Court civil hearing opens today into claims that the 73-year-old put his alleged mistress on the payroll for 14 years without requiring her to do any work. Lawyers for Dovechem subsidiary Thiam Joo will argue that the job allowed divorcee Lidya Susanti Su, 57, to qualify for an employment pass and obtain dependency passes for the two children she is said to have had with Mr Ng.
The firm wants damages of nearly $300,000, most of which consists of her salary from October 1992 to November 2006, when she resigned.
Mr Ng's lawyers from Drew & Napier will argue that Ms Su - who is Taiwanese by birth but later adopted Indonesian nationality - was 'properly and openly hired' and the other directors knew or ought to have known about her employment.
This lawsuit is the latest salvo in the corporate battle raging here and in Malaysia involving the directors of Dovechem.
Mr Ng founded a paint and thinner firm in 1960. It grew into the Dovechem business empire which spans Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, and has an annual turnover of about $500 million. Mr Ng invited his brothers to join him and gave them shares. Over the years, other family members came on board.
In 2002, Mr Ng handed over the reins to his nephew Andrew Ng but stayed on as a director. However, these relatives blamed him for nearly destroying the business in 2008 and ousted him from the board when he turned 70 that year.
The patriarch went to court and claimed that he was jettisoned only after he asked to check the accounts.
Last August, the High Court ruled his ouster invalid and declared that he remains a director of the Dovechem holding company. Mr Ng also won his claim against the company for breaching agreements to pay him various sums. These included the repayment of an outstanding amount of more than $5 million on a $6.1 million loan he had made to the firm.
In his judgment, Justice Philip Pillai described the case as a corporate dispute on one level, but with considerable emotional family tensions underneath.
Mr Ng's younger brothers, Ju Aik, 70, and Ju Lak, 67, and his nephews, Andrew, 51, and Anta, 57, are challenging the decision. The Court of Appeal has yet to deliver its judgment.
The patriarch is expected to testify at the hearing today. A summons to testify had also been served on Ms Su in Shanghai, where she now resides.
The hearing before Justice Pillai is expected to last four days.
Over in Malaysia, Mr Ng is suing his brothers and nephews for minority oppression - which means the majority shareholders take action that unfairly prejudices a minority shareholder. The matter is to be heard next Monday.
.
Dovechem founder on Interpol list
[2011] 18 Jul_ST
[2011] 18 Jul_ST
Title: Dovechem founder on Interpol list
Source: Straits Times
Author: Khushwant Singh
A SINGAPOREAN businessman is wanted by Interpol on suspicion of forging documents in Jakarta.
Mr Ng Joo Soon, the founder of chemical solvent distributor Dovechem, is the target of an arrest warrant issued by the Indonesian authorities, according to the international police organisation's website.
The alleged offences took place early this year, although no more details were available.
News of the arrest warrant comes as a High Court civil hearing opens today into claims that the 73-year-old put his alleged mistress on the payroll for 14 years without requiring her to do any work. Lawyers for Dovechem subsidiary Thiam Joo will argue that the job allowed divorcee Lidya Susanti Su, 57, to qualify for an employment pass and obtain dependency passes for the two children she is said to have had with Mr Ng.
The firm wants damages of nearly $300,000, most of which consists of her salary from October 1992 to November 2006, when she resigned.
Mr Ng's lawyers from Drew & Napier will argue that Ms Su - who is Taiwanese by birth but later adopted Indonesian nationality - was 'properly and openly hired' and the other directors knew or ought to have known about her employment.
This lawsuit is the latest salvo in the corporate battle raging here and in Malaysia involving the directors of Dovechem.
Mr Ng founded a paint and thinner firm in 1960. It grew into the Dovechem business empire which spans Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, and has an annual turnover of about $500 million. Mr Ng invited his brothers to join him and gave them shares. Over the years, other family members came on board.
In 2002, Mr Ng handed over the reins to his nephew Andrew Ng but stayed on as a director. However, these relatives blamed him for nearly destroying the business in 2008 and ousted him from the board when he turned 70 that year.
The patriarch went to court and claimed that he was jettisoned only after he asked to check the accounts.
Last August, the High Court ruled his ouster invalid and declared that he remains a director of the Dovechem holding company. Mr Ng also won his claim against the company for breaching agreements to pay him various sums. These included the repayment of an outstanding amount of more than $5 million on a $6.1 million loan he had made to the firm.
In his judgment, Justice Philip Pillai described the case as a corporate dispute on one level, but with considerable emotional family tensions underneath.
Mr Ng's younger brothers, Ju Aik, 70, and Ju Lak, 67, and his nephews, Andrew, 51, and Anta, 57, are challenging the decision. The Court of Appeal has yet to deliver its judgment.
The patriarch is expected to testify at the hearing today. A summons to testify had also been served on Ms Su in Shanghai, where she now resides.
The hearing before Justice Pillai is expected to last four days.
Over in Malaysia, Mr Ng is suing his brothers and nephews for minority oppression - which means the majority shareholders take action that unfairly prejudices a minority shareholder. The matter is to be heard next Monday.
.
