Finance manager who lent then boyfriend nearly $359,000 wins lawsuit for repayment

Teow Seok Phen said Chee Wei Jun had asked her to lend him money because his bank account was frozen after he accidentally clicked on a fraudulent link.

Published Sep 24, 2026, 06:15 PM

Updated Sep 24, 2026, 06:15 PM

A finance manager lent her boyfriend nearly $359,000 after he claimed his bank account was frozen and portrayed himself as a wealthy pilot, but he failed to repay her fully.

The High Court ruled the money was loaned, not gifted, ordering the boyfriend to repay over $321,000, rejecting his claims of gifts and duress in signing repayment acknowledgements.

The judge found the boyfriend's explanations unconvincing and his testimony not credible, noting multiple promises to repay and evidence showing the woman expected repayment.

SINGAPORE – A finance manager who lent her boyfriend nearly $359,000 while they were in a relationship has succeeded in suing him for repayment of the outstanding debt.

She was also taken in by his claims that he was a pilot and came from a wealthy family.

The various sums she transferred to him included almost all her savings, as well as cash advances and withdrawals from her credit cards. She also let him use her credit cards.

On Sept 24, a High Court judge ordered Chee to pay the outstanding debt of more than $321,000 and rejected the man’s claim that the sums were gifts for which there was no obligation to repay.

In his written judgment, Justice Alex Wong said he accepted Teow’s case that the sums were extended as loans and there was no intention to gift.

“The defendant’s efforts at deflecting and explaining away what were quite plainly loans that were supposed to be repaid were unconvincing and, at times, incredible,” he added.

The judge cited numerous WhatsApp messages in which Chee promised to repay the woman.

In one exchange in August 2023, Chee told Teow he was “touched and embarrassed” by her help and promised to “fully repay” her for it.

In another message in January 2024, he declared: “I can pay you back every penny.”

The judge was not convinced by Chee’s answers when he was confronted with these messages during cross-examination.

For example, when asked about his message in relation to the initial $2,000 loan in June 2023, Chee claimed that when he said he would pay it back, he meant that he would pay Teow back in kind, such as taking her out for meals.

But he later conceded during cross-examination that he voluntarily repaid $700 of the $2,000 owed.

The judge said Chee was not a credible witness. “He was evasive and always seemed to have an explanation of why things were said or done, even if those explanations defied objective observation.”

For example, when asked to confirm if the sums were gifts or loans, Chee answered that it was a “grey area”.

“In my judgment, the defendant wanted to stay in this grey area of deniability because it allowed him to evade his obligations when it suited him.”

The judge added that the exchanges also showed that Teow clearly expected to be repaid.

In one message, she told him there was “no rush” after he asked for her account details.

In another exchange, when he offered to pay more than the amount owed, she said: “Dear (no) need give me extra.”

Teow, a Singapore permanent resident from Malaysia, met Chee, a Singaporean, through an online dating platform in June 2023.

Chee worked at a cafe in addition to being a tutor.

Teow, who was represented by Simon Tan, said Chee portrayed himself as a very affluent person.

She said he told her that he was a commercial airline pilot with several hundred thousand dollars in his bank account and that his father owned successful companies in Singapore and Malaysia.

However, he told her he did not have enough money for daily expenses because of the frozen account.

She said Chee asked her to lend him money, which he would repay once the issue with his account was resolved.

Chee, who was represented by Francis Chan, denied her version of events.

He asserted that Teow understood his financial difficulties and gifted him the sums out of love and affection.

He added that he used her credit cards only once when he hosted his Taiwanese friends in Singapore.

From June 2023 to February 2024, Chee repaid more than $23,000 of the money Teow transferred to him. He also repaid her $35,000 for the use of her credit cards.

By December 2023, she started receiving letters from banks chasing payment for her credit card bills.

In February and March 2024, Teow revealed to her family that Chee had been borrowing money from her.

When he met the family members, they started demanding repayment.

Between March and June 2024, Chee signed various documents acknowledging that he was in debt.

He claimed that these documents were legally invalid as he had signed them under duress and undue influence.

In his judgment, the judge said he accepted Teow’s testimony that she was taken in by Chee’s efforts to impress her and that, at least partly, this motivated her to lend him money.

When they first met, he told her he was “in aviation”. Chee also introduced himself as “a certified airline pilot” in his tutor profile from his tuition agency.

The judge added that Chee, in claiming to have signed the documents under duress, had alleged that Teow’s brother was connected to the underworld in Penang and had repeatedly threatened to hurt him.

“However, these allegations emerged as fabrications as the defendant himself conceded in cross-examination that no direct threats against the defendant were ever made by the claimant’s brother,” said the judge.

Selina Lum is senior law correspondent at The Straits Times.

张锡芬表示，谢伟俊曾向她借钱，因为他不小心点击了一个诈骗链接，导致他的银行账户被冻结。

发布于 2026 年 9 月 24 日下午 6:15

更新于2026年9月24日下午6:15

一位财务经理借给她的男友近 35.9 万美元，因为他声称自己的银行账户被冻结，并把自己包装成一位富有的飞行员，但他未能全额偿还。

高等法院裁定这笔钱是借款，而不是赠与，并命令男友偿还超过 321,000 美元，驳回了他关于受赠和在签署还款确认书时受到胁迫的说法。

法官认为男友的解释缺乏说服力，他的证词也不可信，并指出他多次承诺偿还，而且有证据表明该女子期望得到偿还。

新加坡——一名财务经理在与男友交往期间借给他近 35.9 万美元，如今她成功起诉男友，要求其偿还未偿债务。

她也被他自称是飞行员、出身富裕家庭的说法所蒙蔽。

她转给他的款项几乎包括她所有的积蓄，以及信用卡预支的现金和取款。她还让他使用她的信用卡。

9 月 24 日，高等法院法官命令 Chee 偿还超过 321,000 美元的未偿债务，并驳回了 Chee 的辩解，即这些款项是赠与，无需偿还。

在书面判决中，法官 Alex Wong 表示，他接受 Teow 的说法，即这些款项是以贷款的形式提供的，并没有赠与的意图。

“被告试图转移视线，并为自己辩解，掩盖那些显然应该偿还的贷款，但他的辩解缺乏说服力，有时甚至令人难以置信，”他补充道。

法官列举了Chee在WhatsApp上发的多条信息，其中Chee承诺会偿还这名女子。

在 2023 年 8 月的一次交流中，Chee 告诉 Teow，他对 Teow 的帮助感到“感动和不好意思”，并承诺会“全额报答”她。

在 2024 年 1 月的另一条信息中，他宣称：“我可以一分一分地还给你。”

在交叉询问中，法官面对这些信息时，对 Chee 的回答并不信服。

例如，当被问及他在 2023 年 6 月关于最初 2000 美元贷款的信息时，Chee 声称，他说他会偿还这笔钱，意思是他会以实际行动偿还 Teow，例如带她出去吃饭。

但在交叉询问中，他后来承认自己自愿偿还了所欠 2000 美元中的 700 美元。

法官表示，Chee的证词不可信。“他闪烁其词，总能对所说或所做的事情给出解释，即使这些解释与客观观察相悖。”

例如，当被问及这些款项是赠款还是贷款时，Chee 回答说这是一个“灰色地带”。

“依我之见，被告之所以想待在可否认的灰色地带，是因为这让他可以在对自己有利时逃避自己的义务。”

法官补充说，这些交流也表明，Teow 显然希望得到偿还。

在一条信息中，当他索要她的账户详情时，她告诉他“不着急”。

在另一次交流中，当他提出支付比欠款更多的金额时，她说：“亲爱的，不用给我额外的钱。”

来自马来西亚的新加坡永久居民 Teow 于 2023 年 6 月通过在线约会平台认识了新加坡人 Chee。

Chee除了当家教外，还在一家咖啡馆工作。

由Simon Tan代表的Teow表示，Chee把自己描绘成一个非常富有的人。

她说他告诉她，他是一名商业航空公司飞行员，银行账户里有几十万美元，他的父亲在新加坡和马来西亚拥有成功的公司。

然而，他告诉她，由于账户被冻结，他没有足够的钱支付日常开销。

她说，Chee 曾向她借钱，并承诺一旦账户问题解决就会偿还。

由 Francis Chan 代表的 Chee 否认了她对事件经过的说法。

他声称，Teow 理解他的经济困难，出于爱和关怀赠予了他这笔钱。

他还补充说，他只在新加坡招待台湾朋友时使用过她的信用卡一次。

从2023年6月到2024年2月，Chee偿还了Teow转给他的超过23,000美元。他还偿还了Teow因使用其信用卡而产生的35,000美元费用。

到 2023 年 12 月，她开始收到银行的催款信，要求她偿还信用卡账单。

2024年2月和3月，Teow向家人透露Chee一直在向她借钱。

当他见到这些家庭成员时，他们就开始要求他还钱。

2024 年 3 月至 6 月期间，Chee 签署了多份文件，承认自己负债累累。

他声称这些文件在法律上无效，因为他是在胁迫和不正当影响下签署的。

法官在判决中表示，他接受 Teow 的证词，即她被 Chee 为博取她的好感而采取的手段所蒙蔽，并且至少在一定程度上，这促使她借钱给 Chee。

他们初次见面时，他告诉她自己是“航空从业人员”。Chee还在他所在的补习机构的导师简介中自称是“持有执照的航空公司飞行员”。

法官补充说，Chee声称自己是在胁迫下签署了这些文件，并指控Teow的兄弟与槟城的黑社会有联系，并多次威胁要伤害他。

“然而，这些指控被证实是捏造的，因为被告本人在交叉询问中承认，原告的兄弟从未对被告发出过任何直接威胁，”法官说。

Selina Lum是《海峡时报》的资深法律记者。