Abbot was 'only a go-between in deal'

Abbot was 'only a go-between in deal'

A businessman who gave the abbot of a Buddhist temple $1.4 million to invest in a Cambodian casino has failed in his suit to recover his money.

The High Court on Wednesday found that evidence did not point to any agreement between Mr Chua Kwee Sin, 48, and Venerable Meow Di, 45.

Rather, said Justice Tay Yong Kwang, it showed that the investment deal was between Mr Chua and business consultant William Tan Kheng Tiong, 43.

The judge noted that the monk did not deny receiving money from Mr Chua but maintained that the money was meant to be forwarded to Mr Tan.

The money was eventually handed to Mr Tan - even though Mr Tan denied ever receiving money from the monk.

Justice Tay pointed to the testimonies of the monk and his disciple Tony Au, who said they carried the cash out of Singapore on two occasions to hand it to Mr Tan in Vietnam.

Mr Tan had also issued two receipts to acknowledge the funds.

Mr Chua will now have to bear the legal costs of not only Ven Meow Di, but also of Mr Tan, who was pulled into the suit by the abbot.

Ven Meow Di had named Mr Tan as a third party in his suit to bear the liability for any damages ordered.

However, since Mr Chua did not sue Mr Tan and lost against the monk, he will have to file a separate suit if he wants to get the money back from Mr Tan.

Mr Chua, who was in court to hear the decision, said he has not decided whether to do this.

Ven Meow Di, speaking from the office of his lawyer Ramalingam Kasi, said he was relieved that justice has been done as he had been wronged.

"For 31/2 years, I was looked down upon and my religiousness was questioned," he said in Mandarin.

In his suit, Mr Chua said that he consulted Ven Meow Di on an oil business venture in 2009 but the monk persuaded him to go into the casino business instead. Between Nov 5 and Nov 16, in 2009, Mr Chua handed $1.4 million to the monk.

Mr Chua alleged that when the monk did not open the casino as promised, he pursued the monk to get his money back but failed.

Ven Meow Di, however, contended that he had no interest in any business.

He said his role was merely to introduce investors like Mr Chua to Mr Tan, who ran online casino and gaming operations in Cambodia and Vietnam.

selinal@sph.com.sg


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