Urip Cahyadi v. Henry Surya: Breach of Oral Agreement Dispute

In Urip Cahyadi v. Henry Surya, the General Division of the High Court of Singapore heard a case regarding an alleged oral agreement. Urip Cahyadi, the plaintiff, claimed that Henry Surya, the defendant, breached an oral agreement made on 7 May 2020, in Jakarta, Indonesia, where Surya allegedly agreed to pay IDR150,534,661,958 in exchange for Cahyadi granting a Power of Attorney. The court, presided over by Justice Kwek Mean Luck, dismissed Cahyadi's claim, finding that Cahyadi had not proven, on the balance of probabilities, that the defendant agreed to take on the liability for the Loan Amount in exchange for the plaintiff signing the POA.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court

1.2 Outcome

Plaintiff's claim is dismissed.

1.3 Case Type

Civil

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Singapore court dismisses Urip Cahyadi's claim against Henry Surya for breach of an alleged oral agreement regarding a loan repayment.

1.7 Decision Date

28 April 2022

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Urip Cahyadi	Plaintiff	Individual	Claim Dismissed	Lost	Tan Poh Ling Wendy of Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC Kelley Wong Kar Ee of Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC Lerh Guan Wei Terrence of Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC
Henry Surya	Defendant	Individual	Judgment for Defendant	Won	Choo Zheng Xi of Peter Low & Choo LLC Ashley Yeo SiHui of Peter Low & Choo LLC Yong Shi Qian of Peter Low & Choo LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Kwek Mean Luck	Judge of the High Court	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Tan Poh Ling Wendy	Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC
Kelley Wong Kar Ee	Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC
Lerh Guan Wei Terrence	Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC
Choo Zheng Xi	Peter Low & Choo LLC
Ashley Yeo SiHui	Peter Low & Choo LLC
Yong Shi Qian	Peter Low & Choo LLC

4. Facts

Urip Cahyadi placed time deposits totaling IDR149,920,000,000 with KSP Indosurya between 2018 and 2020.
Henry Surya founded KSP Indosurya in 2012 and was chairman until 2016.
In February 2020, rumors about KSP Indosurya’s solvency arose.
Joanne Cahyadi and Henry Surya met on 7 May 2020, where a letter was presented and signed with amendments.
Urip Cahyadi signed a Power of Attorney in favor of Adjie Wibisono Legal Practice on 8 May 2020.
The plaintiff claimed an oral agreement was reached at the 7 May Dinner, where the defendant promised to pay the Loan Amount in exchange for signing the POA.
The defendant claimed he only made a goodwill offer to transfer properties, not a binding agreement to pay the Loan Amount.

5. Formal Citations

Urip Cahyadi v Henry Surya, Suit No 682 of 2020, [2022] SGHC 94
OCBC Capital Investment Asia Ltd v Wong Hua Choon, , [2012] 4 SLR 1206
ARS v ART & another, , [2015] SGHC 78
Day, Ashley Francis v Yeo Chin Huat Anthony and others, , [2020] 5 SLR 514
The “Posidon” and another matter, , [2018] 3 SLR 372

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2012-01-01	Henry Surya founded KSP Indosurya.
2018-01-01	Urip Cahyadi began placing time deposits with KSP Indosurya.
2020-02-01	Rumors about KSP Indosurya’s solvency emerged.
2020-02-17	Joanne Cahyadi texted Henry Surya to arrange a meeting.
2020-02-21	Joanne Cahyadi and Urip Cahyadi met with Henry Surya.
2020-02-28	Joanne Cahyadi asked Henry Surya to help with the withdrawal of bills.
2020-03-01	Henry Surya stated he would prioritize Urip Cahyadi’s withdrawal.
2020-03-10	Joanne Cahyadi requested Henry Surya to personally settle KSP Indosurya’s debt.
2020-03-23	Henry Surya proposed using his Singapore properties to pay the Loan Amount.
2020-04-06	Joanne Cahyadi asked Henry Surya to settle their portion first.
2020-04-22	Joanne Cahyadi requested loan details and lawyer contact information.
2020-04-30	Joanne Cahyadi contacted Hendra Widjaya for property details.
2020-05-04	Joanne Cahyadi asked Henry Surya to meet.
2020-05-07	The 7 May Dinner took place at Henry Surya’s residence.
2020-05-08	Urip Cahyadi signed a Power of Attorney in favor of Adjie Wibisono Legal Practice.
2020-06-29	Joanne sent the Amended 5 May Letter to the defendant by WA.
2020-07-09	A creditors’ meeting approved the Reconciliation Plan.
2020-07-20	Judgment was given in the PKPU Proceedings approving the Reconciliation Plan.
2020-07-29	Urip Cahyadi commenced action against Henry Surya.
2022-02-15	Trial began.
2022-02-18	Trial continued.
2022-02-22	Trial continued.
2022-02-23	Trial continued.
2022-04-06	Trial continued.
2022-04-29	Judgment reserved.

7. Legal Issues

Breach of Contract
- Outcome: The court found that the plaintiff failed to prove the existence of an oral agreement, and therefore there was no breach of contract.
- Category: Substantive
- Related Cases:
  - [2012] 4 SLR 1206
  - [2015] SGHC 78
  - [2020] 5 SLR 514
Adverse Inference
- Outcome: The court found that there was no basis to draw an adverse inference against the defendant.
- Category: Procedural
- Related Cases:
  - [2018] 3 SLR 372

8. Remedies Sought

Monetary Damages

9. Cause of Actions

Breach of Contract

10. Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

11. Industries

Finance

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
OCBC Capital Investment Asia Ltd v Wong Hua Choon	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2012] 4 SLR 1206	Singapore	Cited for the principle that documentary evidence is the primary source for determining the existence and terms of a contract.
ARS v ART & another	High Court	Yes	[2015] SGHC 78	Singapore	Cited for the applicable approach to determine the existence of an oral agreement.
Day, Ashley Francis v Yeo Chin Huat Anthony and others	High Court	Yes	[2020] 5 SLR 514	Singapore	Cited as an example of a High Court decision that adopted and applied the principles set out in ARS.
The “Posidon” and another matter	High Court	Yes	[2018] 3 SLR 372	Singapore	Cited for the principle that a party seeking to draw an adverse inference must have a case to answer on the issue sought to be strengthened by the drawing of the inference.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
No applicable statutes

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Oral Agreement
Power of Attorney
Loan Amount
KSP Indosurya
Reconciliation Plan
Goodwill Offer
PKPU Proceedings
Time Deposits
MOU
Net Asset Value

15.2 Keywords

contract
oral agreement
power of attorney
loan
singapore
court
judgment

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Contract Law	90
Oral contract	80
Evidence Law	60
Estoppel	30
Misrepresentation	20

16. Subjects

Contract Law
Breach of Contract
Civil Litigation