CEO who sued ex-girlfriend over lavish gifts loses case

Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

A CEO has failed in his bid to sue his ex-girlfriend in Singapore’s high court for almost $370,000 (SGD $468,090) after breaking up with her, claiming she owed him for luxury gifts he lavished on her during their relationship.

Chander Agarwal showered Felicia Lee with Hermes, Dior and Prada items and splashed out tens of thousands of dollars on first class flight tickets.

Among other things, he also said he paid big sums of money for her life insurance premiums, a university program and Lee’s personal expenses on his American Express credit card, court documents showed.

Agarwal also spent thousands on a feng shui master to “spiritually harmonise” Lee’s flat. He argued in court that this “must have been a loan” since he is Indian and does not believe in the ancient practice.

Senior Judge Lee Seiu Kin on Thursday dismissed the case, saying in a written judgement that the money spent was on gifts and can’t be considered loans.

Agarwal is the CEO of an Indian logistics company. Lee is a former flight attendant.

According to court documents, the two met on a flight in 2019. In 2022, they began a romantic relationship but broke up at the end of 2023 after he suspected her of cheating on him.

Agarwal had produced a handwritten agreement with his and her signatures supporting his claim. Lee denied signing it. The significance of the document was ultimately dismissed by the judge.

In the end, the court found that Agarwal could not prove Lee had asked for any of the disputed sums of money or agreed to repay him.

The judge said the evidence clearly showed that Agarwal, “smitten” by Lee, “had showered her with expensive gifts during their relationship” and noted her “spontaneous reluctance to accept them” on occasion.

“It is incredible that for a relationship that lasted for more than a year with so many WhatsApp messages exchanged between them, the Claimant could not point to any written evidence to support his case,” the judge said.

“It is also inherently incredible that the Defendant, with her relatively modest salary, would repeatedly borrow such significant sums to spend on luxury items.”

He added that positions taken by Agarwal in court were “contrary to common sense and unsustainable.”

罗斯兰·拉赫曼/法新社/盖蒂图片社

一名首席执行官在与前女友分手后，向其提起诉讼，索赔近 37 万美元（468,090 新加坡元），声称她在恋爱期间曾送给他奢侈礼物，因此欠他钱。但该诉讼最终被驳回。

Chander Agarwal 送给 Felicia Lee 大量 Hermes、Dior 和 Prada 的物品，并花费数万美元购买头等舱机票。

法庭文件显示，他还表示，他用自己的美国运通信用卡支付了大笔款项，用于支付李的人寿保险费、大学课程费用以及李的个人开支。

阿加瓦尔还花费数千元聘请风水大师为李的公寓进行“精神调和”。他在法庭上辩称，这“一定是贷款”，因为他是印度人，不信奉风水这种古老的习俗。

周四，高级法官李秀健驳回了此案，并在书面判决中表示，所花的钱是用于赠送礼物，不能被视为贷款。

阿加瓦尔是一家印度物流公司的首席执行官。李曾是一名空乘人员。

根据法庭文件，两人于 2019 年在一次航班上相识。2022 年，他们开始恋爱关系，但在 2023 年底，他怀疑她对他不忠，两人分手。

阿加瓦尔出示了一份他和李亲笔签名的手写协议，以支持他的说法。李否认签署过这份协议。最终，法官驳回了这份文件的重要性。

最终，法院认定阿加瓦尔无法证明李曾索要任何有争议的款项或同意偿还他。

法官表示，证据清楚地表明，阿加瓦尔“迷恋”了李，在两人交往期间“送给她很多昂贵的礼物”，并注意到她有时“会自发地不愿意接受这些礼物”。

法官说：“令人难以置信的是，这段持续了一年多的关系中，双方互发了那么多 WhatsApp 信息，原告却拿不出任何书面证据来支持他的诉讼请求。”

“被告人收入相对较低，却屡次借贷如此巨款购买奢侈品，这本身就令人难以置信。”

他还补充说，阿加瓦尔在法庭上采取的立场“违背常理，站不住脚”。