Lim Tien Hou William v Ling Kok Hua: Disposal Inquiry, Fraud & Cryptocurrency

In Lim Tien Hou William v Ling Kok Hua, the High Court of Singapore heard an appeal regarding a disposal inquiry. The District Judge had ordered the return of $10,001 to Ling Kok Hua, who was defrauded. William Lim Tien Hou, who received the money through a Bitcoin transaction, appealed. The High Court, exercising its revisionary jurisdiction, set aside the District Judge's order, finding that the money should be returned to William Lim Tien Hou, from whom it was seized. The court determined that both parties were victims of fraud and satisfied the Lawful Possession Precondition, but the money should be returned to the person from whom it was seized.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore

1.2 Outcome

Order of the District Judge set aside; the Moneys are to be returned to the appellant.

1.3 Case Type

Criminal

1.4 Judgment Type

Judgment

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

Singapore High Court case regarding a disposal inquiry after a fraud involving cryptocurrency. The court revised the order, returning seized funds to the appellant.

1.7 Decision Date

25 January 2023

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
William Lim Tien Hou	Appellant	Individual	Appeal Allowed	Won	Che Wei Chin of Covenant Chambers LLC
Ling Kok Hua	Respondent	Individual	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Oei Ai Hoea Anna of Tan Oei & Oei LLC

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Aedit Abdullah	Judge of the High Court	Yes

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Che Wei Chin	Covenant Chambers LLC
Oei Ai Hoea Anna	Tan Oei & Oei LLC

4. Facts

Respondent was duped into transferring $10,000 to an account he believed belonged to an ex-colleague.
The transfer was facilitated through Teamviewer, allowing remote access to the respondent's screen.
The account belonged to the appellant, who was selling Bitcoin on localbitcoins.com.
Appellant received $10,000 in exchange for Bitcoin.
The respondent lodged a police report, and the funds in the appellant's account were frozen.
Both the appellant and respondent claimed the Moneys.
The appellant was also a victim of the fraud.

5. Formal Citations

Lim Tien Hou WilliamvLing Kok Hua, , [2023] SGHC 18

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2018-11-10	Respondent duped into transferring $10,000 to Appellant's account due to fraud.
2018-11-10	Appellant receives $10,000 for Bitcoin transaction.
2018-11-10	Respondent lodges a police report.
2021-01-01	Magistrate’s Appeal No 9214 of 2021/01 lodged.
2022-05-27	Judgment reserved.
2023-01-26	Judgment issued.

7. Legal Issues

Disposal Inquiry
- Outcome: The court held that the Moneys should be returned to the possessor at the point of the seizure, that being the appellant.
- Category: Procedural
- Sub-Issues:
  - Lawful Possession Precondition
  - Competing Claims
- Related Cases:
  - [2017] 5 SLR 1064
  - [1994] 2 SLR(R) 113
Fraud
- Outcome: The court acknowledged that the transfer from the respondent’s account to the appellant’s account was procured by fraud.
- Category: Substantive

8. Remedies Sought

Quashing of the disposal order
Reversal of the order to award the Moneys to the appellant
Fair distribution of the Moneys with 50% or more to the appellant

9. Cause of Actions

No cause of actions

10. Practice Areas

Criminal Law

11. Industries

Finance
Cryptocurrency

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Sofjan and another v Public Prosecutor	Unknown	Yes	[1968-1970] SLR(R) 782	Singapore	Cited to establish that there is no right of appeal in the context of a disposal inquiry.
Thai Chong Pawnshop Pte Ltd and others v Vankrisappan s/o Gopanaidu and others	Unknown	Yes	[1994] 2 SLR(R) 113	Singapore	Cited to establish that there is no right of appeal in the context of a disposal inquiry and that a disposal inquiry is not conclusive as to title.
Oon Heng Lye v Public Prosecutor	High Court	Yes	[2017] 5 SLR 1064	Singapore	Cited for the principle that a person is only entitled to possession of seized property if he or she satisfies the precondition of being in lawful possession of the seized property.
William Lim Tien Hou v Ling Kok Hua	District Court	Yes	[2021] SGDC 237	Singapore	Cited as the District Judge’s full grounds of decision.
Magnum Finance Bhd v Public Prosecutor	High Court	Yes	[1996] 2 SLR(R) 159	Singapore	Cited to establish that a technical irregularity of filing an appeal instead of a revision can be regularised by an exercise of the High Court’s powers of revision.
Chen Xiuzhu v Public Prosecutor	District Court	Yes	[2020] SGDC 34	Singapore	Cited by the respondent as analogous to the present case.
Amarjeet Singh v Public Prosecutor	Unknown	Yes	[2021] 4 SLR 841	Singapore	Cited to establish that revisions fundamentally differ from appeals.
Mustafa Ahunbay v Public Prosecutor	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2015] 2 SLR 903	Singapore	Cited for the applicable standard for the claimant to meet is that of a prima facie standard.
Sim Cheng Ho and another v Lee Eng Soon	Unknown	Yes	[1997] 3 SLR(R) 190	Singapore	Cited to establish that the object of a disposal inquiry is to identify the party entitled to possession.
Lee Chen Seong Jeremy and others v Public Prosecutor	Unknown	Yes	[2019] 4 SLR 867	Singapore	Cited that the Lawful Possession Precondition applies to s 370 of the CPC 2018.
AB Partners Pte Ltd v Public Prosecutor	Unknown	Yes	[2020] 4 SLR 1082	Singapore	Cited that the reasoning in Oon Heng Lye should extend to s 370(2) of the CPC 2018.
Ung Yoke Hooi v Attorney-General	Court of Appeal	Yes	[2009] 3 SLR(R) 307	Singapore	Cited for the functions and duties of the magistrate’s court under s 392 of the CPC 1985.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 2012 Rev Ed)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Disposal inquiry
Bitcoin
Cryptocurrency
Fraud
Lawful possession
Teamviewer
Localbitcoins.com
Criminal Procedure Code
Revisionary jurisdiction

15.2 Keywords

Disposal inquiry
Bitcoin
Cryptocurrency
Fraud
Singapore
High Court
Criminal Procedure Code

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Disposal of Property	80
Criminal Procedure	75
Revision of Proceedings	70
Fraud and Deceit	60
Cryptocurrency Trading	40
Contract Law	30
Civil Procedure	25

16. Subjects

Criminal Law
Disposal Inquiry
Cryptocurrency
Fraud