- Joined
- Apr 9, 2009
- Messages
- 3,070
- Points
- 0
(SINGAPORE) The former Kim Eng Securities dealer being sued by the brokerage broke down and cried on the stand yesterday, as she recounted how she was 'constantly under threat' from Kim Eng's former executive director, Ong Seng Gee.
Karen Goh is being sued by Kim Eng for over $2 million worth of losses racked up by her clients during the recent financial crisis. The brokerage claims she is liable to indemnify them for any and all losses incurred by her clients, while she denies that liability.
A tenet of Kim Eng's case is that Ms Goh acknowledged that liability when she effected partial repayment of those losses on behalf of her client in 2009. Ms Goh's case is that she was bullied into doing so by Mr Ong's frequent threats.
And it was her recollection of these alleged threats that caused Ms Goh to burst into tears.
She took the stand for the first time yesterday, on the third day of the hearing before Justice Tay Yong Kwang. She had answered all questions calmly until the very end, when Kim Eng's lawyer, Danny Ong of Rajah & Tann, put it to her that her partial repayment of the losses - which included the sale of a property she owned - had nothing to do with the supposed threats.
With tears streaming down her face, she answered: 'I disagree because I was constantly under threat by Mr Ong, your Honour.'
On Monday, Ms Goh's lawyer, Adrian Tan of Drew & Napier, said Ms Goh had claimed that Mr Ong had threatened her with bankruptcy, threatened to throw her things out and shouted at her if she did not get her clients to repay the losses.
Ms Goh had said, in her affidavit: 'He (Mr Ong) commented that I should go to a friend's house - he mentioned a friend's name - kneel down before his front gate, in the rain...and if I knelt down long enough - say, for 4-5 hours - this rich friend would definitely lend me money to pay to Kim Eng. I was shocked at his words and kept silent.'
Mr Ong said he did not ask her to kneel down in the rain for 4-5 hours. He also said that 'debt recovery is an unpleasant job, particularly when you're dealing with people with ... dubious integrity issues', which he considered her to be.
Earlier yesterday morning, Kim Eng's vice-president of credit risk management and retail operations David Chai testified that Mr Ong did not threaten to ruin Ms Goh's reputation. He, however, agreed that Mr Ong did tell Ms Goh that he would bankrupt her clients and 'go after her legally' if they did not pay up.
The hearing continues tomorrow.
Kim Eng is claiming a total of $2.23 million from Ms Goh, which it says is the aggregate of $1.2 million in losses incurred by her clients, $1.01 million in interest accruing on those losses, and $16,775 incurred in legal costs by Kim Eng in this suit. This is over and above the partial repayment made by Ms Goh by February 2009, which came in at just under $1 million and just under half of the total losses incurred.
http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=36283
Karen Goh is being sued by Kim Eng for over $2 million worth of losses racked up by her clients during the recent financial crisis. The brokerage claims she is liable to indemnify them for any and all losses incurred by her clients, while she denies that liability.
A tenet of Kim Eng's case is that Ms Goh acknowledged that liability when she effected partial repayment of those losses on behalf of her client in 2009. Ms Goh's case is that she was bullied into doing so by Mr Ong's frequent threats.
And it was her recollection of these alleged threats that caused Ms Goh to burst into tears.
She took the stand for the first time yesterday, on the third day of the hearing before Justice Tay Yong Kwang. She had answered all questions calmly until the very end, when Kim Eng's lawyer, Danny Ong of Rajah & Tann, put it to her that her partial repayment of the losses - which included the sale of a property she owned - had nothing to do with the supposed threats.
With tears streaming down her face, she answered: 'I disagree because I was constantly under threat by Mr Ong, your Honour.'
On Monday, Ms Goh's lawyer, Adrian Tan of Drew & Napier, said Ms Goh had claimed that Mr Ong had threatened her with bankruptcy, threatened to throw her things out and shouted at her if she did not get her clients to repay the losses.
Ms Goh had said, in her affidavit: 'He (Mr Ong) commented that I should go to a friend's house - he mentioned a friend's name - kneel down before his front gate, in the rain...and if I knelt down long enough - say, for 4-5 hours - this rich friend would definitely lend me money to pay to Kim Eng. I was shocked at his words and kept silent.'
Mr Ong said he did not ask her to kneel down in the rain for 4-5 hours. He also said that 'debt recovery is an unpleasant job, particularly when you're dealing with people with ... dubious integrity issues', which he considered her to be.
Earlier yesterday morning, Kim Eng's vice-president of credit risk management and retail operations David Chai testified that Mr Ong did not threaten to ruin Ms Goh's reputation. He, however, agreed that Mr Ong did tell Ms Goh that he would bankrupt her clients and 'go after her legally' if they did not pay up.
The hearing continues tomorrow.
Kim Eng is claiming a total of $2.23 million from Ms Goh, which it says is the aggregate of $1.2 million in losses incurred by her clients, $1.01 million in interest accruing on those losses, and $16,775 incurred in legal costs by Kim Eng in this suit. This is over and above the partial repayment made by Ms Goh by February 2009, which came in at just under $1 million and just under half of the total losses incurred.
http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=36283
