ST : Court clears sale of $37m bungalow

Dec 02,2010

RIDOUT PROPERTY BATTLE
Court clears sale of $37m bungalow
Judge rules against group that claimed it had $20m deal to buy property



The purchase of the Ridout Road bungalow is expected to be concluded some time this month. But EC Investment Holding has filed an appeal to overturn the sale. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA



By Gabriel Chen


A COURT has ruled against a group who claimed they had a deal to buy a Ridout Road bungalow for $20 million. The move paves the way for the owner, Indonesian-born businessman Agus Anwar, to sell the house for $37 million to a banker who served the late Nina Wang, who was Asia's richest woman.

Two parties - EC Investment Holding, owned by Mr Tan Koo Chuan of Yi Kai Group and Mr Melvin Poh of Fission Group, and former Goldman Sachs banker Thomas Chan - were fighting for control of the house at 39A Ridout Road that Mr Agus bought in 2006.

But three months ago, the High Court ordered the sale of the property in the upmarket Holland district to Mr Chan for $37 million.

The purchase of the two-storey property by Mr Chan - which sits on a 40,600 sq ft plot, complete with a tennis court and swimming pool in the good-class bungalow area - is expected to be concluded some time this month.

But the story may not be over yet. EC Investment Holding has filed an appeal to overturn the sale with the hearing expected to be held in March, sources say.

Mr Agus originally acquired the 40,600 sq ft house for $28 million in 2006. He had paid $11 million and the stamp duty of over $744,000 from his own funds, and taking the balance of $17 million from a $30 million facility extended to him by Hong Leong Finance.

However, the financial crisis hit his finances and, on May 16, 2008, Hong Leong Finance recalled the loan and terminated the facility after Mr Agus failed to make his payments.

'Agus Anwar was coming under increasing financial pressure. His investments were then badly hit by the global financial crisis sparked off by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008,' according to a High Court judgment dated September this year.

EC Investment Holding claims that in the terms of a deal dated June 8 last year, it was granted an option to buy Mr Agus' property for $20 million, in exchange for a $1.5 million option fee. Mr Chan also obtained an option to buy the property for $37 million on Oct 8 last year.

Justice Quentin Loh, in his September judgment, noted that EC Investment knew before it entered into the transaction that Mr Agus was desperate for a short-term loan.

He said that EC Investment Holding's Mr Tan 'feigned ignorance on many things and kept up the simple mantra that he was only interested in property, smelt a good deal and went after it'.

Based on the evidence, the court did not grant EC Investment's request that the sale be completed.

EC's Yi Kai and Fission are behind the development Alexis along Alexandra Road.

As for Mr Chan, Justice Loh said that 'everyone accepted that he had innocently walked straight into this melee'. Mr Chan had wanted to buy a bungalow and after being introduced to the property, acted decisively in putting down an option fee. He did not meet Mr Agus at all and was unaware of the earlier option.

Mr Agus, said to be in his late 50s and now a Singaporean, is no stranger to court battles.

In January, he was ordered by the High Court to make good on the payment of a $10.5 million loan he received two years ago from an investment firm while in financial difficulty.

Mr Agus was once a significant shareholder in two Indonesian banks, PT Bank Kredit Asia and PT Bank Pelita, but there was a run on these banks during the 1997 financial meltdown and they were taken over by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency.

Mr Agus came to Singapore in 2000 and became a citizen in 2004 - the same year he made headlines for allegedly owing the Indonesian government 3.2 trillion rupiah, or $467 million.

The $37 million will help him clear more of his debt - as of the middle of this year, he had personal available assets of nearly $60 million, but owed creditors $103.3 million.

But, with March's appeal hearing on the horizon, the wrangle over the Ridout property could drag on.

gabrielc@sph.com.sg




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Who is Thomas Chan?

THE buyer of the house in Ridout Road, Mr Thomas Chan, is a high-flying banker, hailing from the investment management division at Goldman Sachs. He left the American firm earlier this year and has since started his own advisory practice here.

According to those who know him, he is a low-key character who, although wealthy, does not brag about his possessions.

'He's very quiet, polished, and almost like a loner,' said a banker who caught up with him earlier this year. 'He has a couple of cars, but you'll never know he has several because he doesn't talk about them.'

Mr Chan is apparently a Singaporean, but hails originally from Hong Kong. Said to be in his 40s, he helped the late Hong Kong billionaire Nina Wang with her share transactions.

A keen investor in luxury properties, he is said to have picked up a property at Queen Astrid Park for about $28.3 million from Mr Zain Fancy, formerly head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing for Asia Pacific, earlier this year.

And last year, Mr Chan sold a site in Dalvey Road for $27.01 million. He is also reported to have bought a bungalow in Belmont Road for $30.5 million from Mr Ong Kok Thai, managing director of Vanguard Interiors and the Peranakan Place Group, also last year.

Court documents say Mr Chan plans to build a new bungalow at Ridout Road for himself and his family.

GABRIEL CHEN