‘Contemptible’ deception: In Singapore, Australian man who hid wealth from Malaysian ex-wife ordered to add S$10m to divorce assets

‘Contemptible’ deception: In Singapore, Australian man who hid wealth from Malaysian ex-wife ordered to add S$10m to divorce assets



Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir awarded the man’s former wife 69 per cent of the total S$10.2 million in matrimonial assets — higher than the 50 per cent she initially sought, according to a report in The Straits Times. — Picture from Pexels.com

Wednesday, 29 Jan 2025 1:08 PM MYT


SINGAPORE, Jan 29 — A man who tried to conceal his wealth in a divorce has been ordered to include about S$10 million (RM32.5 million) in the matrimonial pool, with the judge slamming his actions as “a fraud not just on the court, but on all parties involved.”

Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir awarded the man’s former wife 69 per cent of the total S$10.2 million in matrimonial assets — higher than the 50 per cent she initially sought, according to a report in The Straits Times.

“It represents a fraud not just on the court, but on all of the parties involved in the litigation and the wider justice system,” Mohamed Faizal said in a judgment released on January 9.

The ruling left her with about S$7 million and the man with S$3.1 million.

The couple, a 38-year-old Malaysian woman and her 39-year-old Australian ex-husband, have a six-year-old child.

The man, who moved out in 2022, initially declared assets of just S$11,732 across three bank accounts and claimed to have no CPF savings, shares, or overseas investments.

Through a court-ordered discovery process, the woman uncovered that he was a director and shareholder in a multinational business group and received monthly payments of up to A$10,000.

He also held more than 80 per cent of an Indonesian entity valued at S$12 million but claimed his businesses were “worth nothing.”

“The husband was committed to hiding his assets and coming up with farcical reasons for why he was not able to comply with his disclosure obligations,” said the judge.

He said the man “indisputably possesses” millions of dollars in assets, but painted an “utterly unbelievable picture of a net financial worth of just tens of thousands of dollars”.

The judicial commissioner said in the judgment: “The husband has hidden almost the entirety of his assets over the years from view in order to do his best to shoehorn the court from being able to sensibly dispense justice, coming up with a myriad of excuses for why no objective evidence of their value is available, and why, therefore, he should be allowed to declare all of these varied assets to be worthless.

“The response by the court must reflect the utter contempt that it has for such behaviour.”

Due to his failure to make full disclosure, the court drew an adverse inference and added S$10 million — reflecting his Indonesian business interests — to the matrimonial pool.

The judge also granted the woman an additional 10 per cent share of the assets, saying penalties for asset concealment must be “sufficiently severe” to encourage transparency.

In addition to the asset division, the court awarded joint custody of the child, denied the woman’s request for spousal maintenance, and set child maintenance at S$3,700 per month, to be split equally between the parents.

Lawyers noted that attempting to hide assets in a divorce can lead to severe financial consequences.

Ivan Cheong of Withers KhattarWong said: “It never pays to attempt to conceal assets or refuse to provide objective information.”