SINGAPORE - A 55-year-old businessman who paid out $2 million to his mistress over a three-month period has sued her to get back the money, claiming that the sum was a loan.
But property agent Angelina Jiang, 33, has produced chat messages to argue that the money was a gift to her that Mr Toh Eng Tiah was not entitled to reclaim.
Mr Toh, who also goes by the name Andy, said in one message: "Give birth to a daughter will have a reward of 2 million."
In other messages, he told her "don't need to pay the money back to me" and "I have given you $2 million as a gift".
Citing these messages as the case opened in the High Court on Monday (Aug 19), Ms Jiang's lawyer, Mr Mahesh Rai, said Mr Toh was acting "dishonorably" by going back on his word and trying to claw back the money.
"The evidence will show that the parties were in a romantic relationship and that the monies had been given to Ms Jiang unconditionally as gifts," he said in his opening statement.
Mr Toh's lawyer, Mr Anthony Lee, responded by calling Ms Jiang a "money grabber".
Mr Lee argued that his client never intended to gift Ms Jiang $2 million and that the series of payments from Mr Toh to her made between December 2016 and March 2017 was a loan that had to be repaid.
Mr Toh runs three companies that collect and sell recycled materials. He has two children from his first marriage and one out of wedlock, but none from his current marriage.
Ms Jiang is a property agent who made as much as $700,000 a year and owns two properties, the court heard. The Chinese national became a Singapore
The two met in November 2016, when Mr Toh contacted Ms Jiang after seeing a newspaper advertisement for a property sale.
They soon began a relationship, with Mr Toh showering Ms Jiang with expensive gifts and even giving her the personal identification number to his debit card, said Mr Rai.
But property agent Angelina Jiang, 33, has produced chat messages to argue that the money was a gift to her that Mr Toh Eng Tiah was not entitled to reclaim.
Mr Toh, who also goes by the name Andy, said in one message: "Give birth to a daughter will have a reward of 2 million."
In other messages, he told her "don't need to pay the money back to me" and "I have given you $2 million as a gift".
Citing these messages as the case opened in the High Court on Monday (Aug 19), Ms Jiang's lawyer, Mr Mahesh Rai, said Mr Toh was acting "dishonorably" by going back on his word and trying to claw back the money.
"The evidence will show that the parties were in a romantic relationship and that the monies had been given to Ms Jiang unconditionally as gifts," he said in his opening statement.
Mr Toh's lawyer, Mr Anthony Lee, responded by calling Ms Jiang a "money grabber".
Mr Lee argued that his client never intended to gift Ms Jiang $2 million and that the series of payments from Mr Toh to her made between December 2016 and March 2017 was a loan that had to be repaid.
Mr Toh runs three companies that collect and sell recycled materials. He has two children from his first marriage and one out of wedlock, but none from his current marriage.
Ms Jiang is a property agent who made as much as $700,000 a year and owns two properties, the court heard. The Chinese national became a Singapore
The two met in November 2016, when Mr Toh contacted Ms Jiang after seeing a newspaper advertisement for a property sale.
They soon began a relationship, with Mr Toh showering Ms Jiang with expensive gifts and even giving her the personal identification number to his debit card, said Mr Rai.