Woman being sued for $9.5m jailed for flouting court order
A businesswoman, who is being sued for $9.5 million by three businessman from China for alleged fraud, sold off a stake of her business despite a court order to freeze her assets pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
Yesterday, Song Fanrong, 45, a Singapore citizen originally from China, was jailed for breaching the Mareva injunction for contempt of court.
Senior Judge Andrew Ang ordered Song to be committed to prison until further orders. He will review the case on Sept 27.
Song ran eight kindergartens, including Buttercups branches and Frobel pre-schools.
This is the latest development in a High Court suit for fraudulent misrepresentation, filed in March by Mr Wang Cheng, Mr Liu Guohui and Mr Chen Xiaopu. The threealleged Song misled them into believing she could help them apply for permanent residency or citizenship here throughconnections.
Represented by Mr Quek Mong Hua, they said in their suit that she told them she was the chairman of an association supported by the Government.
She also claimed her Singaporean husband, Mr Teo Kuei Yang, was the brother of the deputy prime minister. They said they signed contracts with Song after she offered to help them move to Singapore under a purported scheme that required at least $500,000 invested in a Singapore company.
Mr Wang paid her more than $610,000. Mr Liu said he invested $798,500, and Mr Chen invested $2.1 million.
The men later found out that the minimum investment under the scheme was only $50,000.
But Song said the trio chose their own investments.
The three also said Song persuaded them to buy four houses in Ang Mo Kio. They signed agreements stating Song would buy them in her name and transfer the properties to them after they got permanent residence.
In total, they paid her $5.5 million. They later found out the agreements had no legal effect.
In May, despite the Mareva injunction, she sold 2 per cent of her shares in Friedrich Frobel Holding, the parent company of her kindergartens, and some of its stake in Buttercups.
The payments totalling about $300,000 were made to her bank account in China.
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