Wibowo Boediono v Cristian Priwisata Yacob: Fraud, Misrepresentation, and Solicitors' Negligence

The Singapore Court of Appeal heard appeals arising from two suits involving Wibowo Boediono, Koh Teng Teng Isabelle, Tan Lay Pheng, and Toh Wee Jin against Cristian Priwisata Yacob, Denny Suriadinata, and Nila Susilawaty concerning allegations of fraud and negligence related to the transfer of money and an apartment. The court allowed the appeals in part, finding that a debt existed, payments for a car were to discharge the debt, and a joint investment occurred, but the transfer of the apartment was validly procured.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Appeals allowed in part.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Singapore Court of Appeal case involving fraud, misrepresentation, and solicitors' negligence in property transfer and investment disputes. Appeals allowed in part.

1.7 Decision Date

8 July 2018

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Wibowo Boediono	Appellant	Individual	Appeal allowed in part	Partial
Koh Teng Teng Isabelle	Appellant	Individual	Appeal allowed	Won
Cristian Priwisata Yacob	Respondent	Individual	Partial Loss	Partial	Quek Mong Hua of Lee & Lee Lee Jing Yan of Lee & Lee Jacqueline Chua Yi Ying of Lee & Lee
Denny Suriadinata	Respondent	Individual	Partial Loss	Partial	Quek Mong Hua of Lee & Lee Lee Jing Yan of Lee & Lee Jacqueline Chua Yi Ying of Lee & Lee
Nila Susilawaty	Respondent	Individual	Neutral	Neutral	Quek Mong Hua of Lee & Lee Lee Jing Yan of Lee & Lee Jacqueline Chua Yi Ying of Lee & Lee
Toh Wee Jin	Appellant	Individual	Appeal allowed	Won	Sarjit Singh Gill of Shook Lin & Bok LLP Lin Ruizi of Shook Lin & Bok LLP Tan Su Hui of Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Tan Lay Pheng	Appellant	Individual	Appeal allowed	Won	Kuah Boon Theng of Legal Clinic LLC Vanessa Yong of Legal Clinic LLC Samantha Oei of Legal Clinic LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Andrew Phang Boon Leong	Judge of Appeal	No
Judith Prakash	Judge of Appeal	Yes
Tay Yong Kwang	Judge of Appeal	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Quek Mong Hua	Lee & Lee
Lee Jing Yan	Lee & Lee
Jacqueline Chua Yi Ying	Lee & Lee
Sarjit Singh Gill	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Lin Ruizi	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Tan Su Hui	Shook Lin & Bok LLP
Kuah Boon Theng	Legal Clinic LLC
Vanessa Yong	Legal Clinic LLC
Samantha Oei	Legal Clinic LLC

4. Facts

Mr. Yacob and Mr. Suriadinata transferred money to Mr. Boediono.
The Yacobs transferred an apartment unit to Mr. Kweh.
The Yacobs claimed the money was for a car and joint investment.
Mr. Boediono claimed the money was to repay Mr. Yacob’s debt to Mr. Kweh.
The Yacobs claimed the apartment transfer was fraudulently procured.
Mr. Toh and Mr. Tan acted as solicitors for the transfer.
The Judge found for the plaintiffs on all issues in the court below.

5. Formal Citations

Wibowo Boediono and another v Cristian Priwisata Yacob and another and other appeals, , [2018] SGCA 38
Wibowo Boediono v Cristian Priwisata Yacob, Civil Appeal No 23 of 2017, Civil Appeal No 23 of 2017
Wibowo Boediono v Cristian Priwisata Yacob, Civil Appeal No 24 of 2017, Civil Appeal No 24 of 2017
Tan Lay Pheng v Cristian Priwisata Yacob, Civil Appeal No 36 of 2017, Civil Appeal No 36 of 2017
Toh Wee Jin v Cristian Priwisata Yacob, Civil Appeal No 37 of 2017, Civil Appeal No 37 of 2017

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2005-01-01	Yacobs decided to send their children to school in Singapore.
2007-01-01	Boediono finished his education, married Koh, and settled in Singapore.
2007-01-01	Yacobs agreed to buy the Apartment.
2008-01-01	Purchase of the Apartment was completed.
2008-04-07	Mr. Yacob remitted $100,000 to Mr. Boediono.
2008-08-01	Yacobs and Boedionoes became acquainted.
2009-08-01	Mr. Yacob remitted a further $140,100 to Mr. Boediono.
2010-12-07	Mr. Yacob remitted $607,700 to the appellants.
2010-12-01	Mr. Suriadinata transferred sums totalling $624,570.19 to the appellants.
2011-04-01	Mr. Boediono emailed Mr. Yacob, asking whether he wanted to convert the condominium investment into a cluster bungalow investment.
2011-06-01	Yacobs flew to Singapore to meet the appellants.
2011-06-14	Mr. Toh prepared a draft sale and purchase agreement between the Yacobs and Mr. Kweh.
2011-07-01	Appellants met the Yacobs in Bali to discuss another investment.
2011-08-01	Mr. Yacob allegedly became suspicious of the appellants after seeing an Indonesian news report.
2011-09-24	Mr. Toh received an email from Address B, purporting to be from Mr. Yacob.
2011-09-24	Mr. Yacob sent an email expressing his concern to Mr. Boediono.
2011-10-31	Mr. Boediono allegedly met Mr. Yacob.
2011-11-01	Meeting between Mr. Yacob and Mr. Boediono did not materialise.
2011-12-02	Second RCOT application was granted.
2011-12-01	Yacobs visited Singapore to check on the condominium properties.
2011-12-07	Mr. Tan emailed a Letter of Authority to Mr. Toh for Mr. Yacob and Mdm. Susilawaty to sign.
2011-12-12	Mr. Tan received an email from Address B appearing to be from Mr. Yacob, confirming that the Apartment had been fully paid for.
2011-12-23	Mr. Tan sent an email to Mr. Yacob at Address B to ask Mr. Yacob for permission to complete the sale early.
2011-12-27	Mr. Tan received an affirmative reply.
2011-12-28	Registered ownership of the Apartment was transferred into Mr. Kweh’s name.
2012-01-30	Suit 71 was commenced.
2015-03-01	Mdm Susilawaty testified during the first tranche of the trial.
2015-11-01	Mr. Yacob testified during the second tranche of the trial.
2017-01-01	Civil Appeals Nos 23, 24, 36 and 37 of 2017 were heard.
2018-01-16	Judgment reserved.
2018-07-09	Judgment delivered.

7. Legal Issues

Fraudulent Misrepresentation
- Outcome: The court found that the Yacobs did not discharge their burden of proving that their signatures were fraudulently procured by the appellants.
- Category: Substantive
Negligence of Solicitors
- Outcome: The court found that the solicitors were negligent but as the documents have not been proved to be fraudulent, no liability attaches to such negligence.
- Category: Substantive
Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court upheld the Judge’s finding that the sums of $607,700 and $624,570.19 were paid to Mr Boediono pursuant to a joint investment plan.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary damages
Return of apartment unit

9. Cause of Actions

Fraud
Negligence
Conversion
Unjust Enrichment
Conspiracy by unlawful means

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Legal Services
Real Estate

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Alwie Handoyo v Tjong Very Sumito	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2013] 4 SLR 308	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the burden of proof is on the party alleging forgery of a particular document to prove it.
Ng Chee Weng v Lim Jit Ming Bryan	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2012] 1 SLR 457	Singapore	Cited for the principle that factual positions should not offend common sense.
Cristian Priwisata Yacob and another v Wibowo Boediono and another and another suit	High Court	No	[2017] SGHC 8	Singapore	The judgment under appeal. The Court of Appeal overturned several findings of the High Court.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules	Singapore
Misrepresentation Act (Cap 390, 1994 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2014 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Fraudulent transfer
Solicitor's negligence
Joint investment
Debt repayment
RCOT application
Notarised documents
Duty of care
Breach of duty
Causation
Mitigation of loss

15.2 Keywords

fraud
negligence
solicitors
property transfer
investment
Singapore
Court of Appeal

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Solicitor's duties	80
Fraud and Deceit	75
Misrepresentation	70
Negligence	60
Contract Law	40
Agency Law	30
Civil Procedure	25
Civil Litigation	20
Litigation	15
Property Law	10

16. Subjects

Tort
Contract Law
Civil Procedure
Real Estate Law