Woman sues paraplegic

[Katana]

Nov 25, 2009
Woman sues paraplegic
Doctor claims he failed to repay $400,000 loan; he is counterclaiming for return of $280,000

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Dr Tan alleges that Dr Chee was once in an intimate relationship with him, and that she transferred monthly sums to his bank account from 2000 as gifts. Dr Chee says work matters brought her and Dr Tan together, and that they were not lovers. -- ST FILE PHOTO

<!-- story content : start --> WELL-KNOWN paraplegic athlete William Tan is being sued for about $400,000 by a woman, a doctor who he in turn alleged was once in an intimate relationship with him. Dr Stephanie Chee, 50, is claiming that she gave the sum to Dr Tan over a six-year period from 1999 to 2005. He had supposedly approached her for financial help during this period. In court documents filed, the mother of three said the money was meant as loans to help with his living expenses, overseas education in Australia, and in relation to the firms he helped run, such as the Wilcare School of Health Sciences. Wheelchair-bound Dr Tan, 52, who is contesting her claims, said in court documents that an intimate relationship between them turned sour in 2006. They started working together in 1999 when he agreed to help raise funds for the Parkway Healthcare Foundation, and was later appointed special project manager in 2003. Dr Chee was the general manager of the foundation then. Dr Chee denies in court documents that they were lovers, and that they had 'never kissed' or had any conjugal relations. She made it clear that work matters brought them together and it stopped there: He was never involved in her life or the lives of her daughters.

[email protected]

 

[yellow people]

Woman suing paraplegic William Tan convicted of 10 criminal charges


Woman suing paraplegic William Tan convicted of 10 criminal charges
Posted: 10 February 2010 1216 hrs
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SINGAPORE: The woman suing prominent paraplegic William Tan in a civil suit has been convicted of all 10 charges for a criminal case.

Stephanie Chee, 50, has been fighting 10 counts of making false claims against Parkway Healthcare Foundation (PHF) and two other charitable bodies since early last year.

At the time of the alleged offences between March 2003 and April 2004, she was the general manager of PHF and Toa Payoh Senior Citizens' Health Care Centre. She has since quit the posts.

Chee is alleged to have submitted reimbursement claims for what she cast as legitimate payments for works done for the charities by other parties, when they were not.

One of the charges accuses her of cheating the old folks' centre by submitting a reimbursement claim twice - which led to the centre paying her twice - for a medical bill for plastic surgery run up by her brother.

In her civil suit, Chee made the news for suing Dr Tan, a well-known neuroscientist and Paralympian, for the repayment of S$400,000 in alleged loans.

Mitigation and sentencing will take place on March 15.

- CNA/sc

 

[Shin Orochi]

Guilty of cheating charities

Singapore
Feb 10, 2010

Guilty of cheating charities

<!-- by line --> By Elena Chong

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Chee (above) was found guilty of cheating PHF, Toa Payoh Centre and Toa Payoh Centre Ltd of various sums of money between March 2003 and April 2004. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM

<!-- story content : start --> A FORMER management consultant was convicted of 10 charges of cheating three charities of a total of $5,760 after a trial. Stephanie Chee Jok Heng, 51, formerly management consultant to Parkway Healthcare Foundation (PHF), Toa Payoh Centre and Geylang Centre, was found guilty of cheating PHF, Toa Payoh Centre and Toa Payoh Centre Ltd of various sums of money between March 2003 and April 2004.

In a separate case, Chee, who has a doctorate and is a qualified nurse, is suing Dr William Tan, 52, a well-known neuroscientist and Paralympian, for the repayment of $400,000 in alleged loans. In the criminal matter, the prosecution led evidence through several witnesses to show that Chee dishonestly submitted claims for reimbursement from the charities to pay her daughters' piano teacher and the Chinese tutor of one of her daughters.

She was also convicted of making a double claim of payment for treatment rendered to her younger brother, Mr Chee Kin Mun, under the auspices of the PHF's emergency medical fund, for which she had been reimbursed. District Judge Jasvender Kaur adjourned mitigation and sentencing to March 15. Chee faces a jail term of up to seven years and/or a fine on each charge.

 

[Orochi]

Singapore
Mar 15, 2010

Money given, not loaned

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Details about Dr Tan's (above) relationship with Stephanie Chee Jok Heng, 51, emerged in court when his lawyer cross-examined the woman on the first day of the hearing into her lawsuit. -- ST PHOTO: STEVEN LEE CT

<!-- story content : start --> PROMINENT paraplegic athlete William Tan Kian Meng claimed that a woman who is suing him for some $400,000 had given him the money, not lent it to him, as they had been in an 'intimate relationship'. Details about Dr Tan's relationship with Stephanie Chee Jok Heng, 51, emerged in court when his lawyer cross-examined the woman on the first day of the hearing into her lawsuit.

They had even gone on trysts to hotels, claimed Dr Tan. But Chee, a divorcee with three daughters, flatly denied allegations that they had been lovers and insisted that the two had merely had a 'Christian platonic kind of relationship'. In her lawsuit, Chee, a former management consultant, is seeking the return of $259,818.24 that she had extended to Dr Tan between 1999 and 2007. These included payments for his car insurance, road tax, life insurance premiums; expenses on his supplementary credit card; and expenses incurred in their business ventures.

Dr Tan, 53, who is single, does not dispute receiving the money, but he claims that many of the payments were 'love gifts' to him. He also contends that Chee had waived her right to the money when she turned down his previous offers to pay her back. Chee is seeking another $149,858.19 from Dr Tan, claiming he had promised to indemnify her for losses she had made from the sale of an apartment at the One Tree Lodge condominium.

Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Charity cheater jailed

Singapore
Mar 19, 2010

Charity cheater jailed

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Stephanie Chee Jok Heng, 51, was sentenced to 13 months' jail on Friday for cheating two charitable organisations of $5,761. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

<!-- story content : start --> A FORMER management consultant to Parkway Health Foundation and two voluntary welfare organisations was sentenced to 13 months' jail on Friday for cheating. Stephanie Chee Jok Heng, 51, a part-time lecturer in National Institute of Education, was general manager of PHF, Toa Payoh Senior Citizens' Health Care Centre and Geylang Centre at the time of the offences in 2003 and 2004. She was found guilty of 10 charges of duping the charitable organisations of $5,761 after more than 20 days' trial. Chee, who has a doctorate in nursing and holds four master's degrees, was ordered by District Judge Jasvender Kaur to pay back the amount she cheated to PHF and Toa Payoh Centre. But she is appealing and her bail was doubled to $20,000. Pressing for a deterrent sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gordon Oh said there were several aggravating factors in the case.

The victims, he said, were all charitable organisations which relied on public funding to provide medical services to the needy. As general manager, Chee was able to exploit the reimbursement process to her own benefit. She deceived four entities into believing that the nine false reimbursement claims were for amounts that she had purportedly paid to two individuals for contract or administration services that they rendered. In fact, the two had been paid for giving piano lessons nd Chinese tuition to her daughters. She also made a double claim to reimburse herself twice for her brother's medical treatment under the guise of PHF's emergency medical scheme. 'The accused was able to exploit the weak internal controls of the institutions and pass off her own personal expenses as legitimate expenses incurred on behalf of the institutions because she abused the trust that was reposed in her,' said DPP Oh. In mitigation, her lawyer, Mr Andrew Hanam, drew the court's attention to her significant contributions to the health care industry and the small amount involved. She could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined on each charge.

 

[General Veers]

Ex-charity manager jailed

Singapore
Mar 20, 2010

Ex-charity manager jailed

District judge says former Parkway Healthcare Foundation head exploited charities' weaknesses

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Stephanie Chee Jok Heng was ordered to pay compensation to the charities. She is out on bail, pending her appeal. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

<!-- story content : start --> AS THE head of three charitable organisations, Stephanie Chee Jok Heng knew exactly how weak their internal controls were in areas such as approving reimbursement claims. But instead of fixing them, she exploited them, using false invoices to pass off her personal expenses as legitimate ones. Chee, 51, the former general manager of Parkway Healthcare Foundation (PHF) and two health-care centres for the elderly, was jailed 13 months yesterday. Chee, who was later appointed management consultant to these organisations, had earlier been convicted of 10 cheating charges involving a total of $5,761 after a hearing that lasted more than 20 days. Her punishment came two days after the end of a civil court hearing in the High Court. Chee sued prominent paraplegic athlete William Tan for more than $400,000 over alleged loans and losses from a property sale. Yesterday, District Judge Jasvender Kaur had harsh words for her after agreeing with Deputy Public Prosecutor Gordon Oh that Chee deserved a deterrent sentence.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.
[email protected]

 

[Tadakatsu Honda]

Stephanie Chee suing friend who helped her in trial


Stephanie Chee suing friend who helped her in trial
By Teo Xuanwei | Posted: 20 April 2010 0012 hrs
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SINGAPORE : A former management consultant who was convicted last month of cheating the charities she was working for, is suing a friend who had helped her in that criminal trial by allegedly posing as a lawyer.

Stephanie Chee Jok Heng, 51, claims she mistakenly handed businessman Chang Yue Shoon S$727,000 because the latter had allegedly misrepresented himself as a criminal lawyer who could get his good friend, former Law Society president Peter Low, to defend her against the cheating charges.

Dr Chee, who holds four masters degrees and a doctorate in nursing, claims that she paid Mr Chang S$15,000 each month between May and July 2006 for legal advice after police investigations were started against her for cheating Parkway Healthcare Foundation and Toa Payoh Senior Citizens' Health Care Centre.

The remaining S$682,000 which were proceeds from the sale of her Maplewoods condominium were handed to the 57-year-old businessman in 2007 to hold on trust, which was on his advice Dr Chee alleged. Dr Chee, who is appealing against her conviction and a 13-month imprisonment term for cheating the charities of S$5,761 between March 2003 and April 2004, is also involved in an unrelated High Court suit against prominent paraplegic athlete William Tan Kian Meng.

The hearing over the alleged repayment of loans and property investment losses totalling S$400,000 ended last month and the case is awaiting submissions. Mr Chang contends however, that the S$45,000 were his fees as a business consultant to Dr Chee's company, Wilcare Consulting Group.

Dr Chee agreed that Mr Chang "gives (her) some ideas" regarding general matters in the company, but countered that his contributions were "extremely minimal". His lawyer, S H Almenoar, also disputed Dr Chee's allegations that Mr Chang had made the claim to her that he had defended notorious murderer Adrian Lim and had also worked with former Solicitor-General Francis Seow.

The only link, Mr Almenoar argued, was when his client mentioned in an email that he had read law in the University of London. Under cross-examination, Dr Chee was asked why her suspicions were not raised although she had not seen Mr Chang's business card, law degree, law office, or received any official letters bearing his law firm's name.

She said: "I trusted him. I believed that he was a lawyer and assumed that he would not say untrue things." Mr Almenoar also refuted Dr Chee's claims that his client had tricked her into giving him the S$682,000 by saying the Commercial Affairs Department would seize that money because of their investigations into her cheating offences then.

He contended that all of the S$682,000 "save for S$90,000 which was owed to his client for outstanding consultancy fees owed to him" had been disbursed according to Dr Chee's instructions and with her knowledge. Dr Chee disagreed. Grilled on why she agreed to let Mr Chang hold such a large sum of money on trust, Dr Chee replied: "I was under a lot of mental stress because of the criminal investigations. I was also frightened that he would drop my legal case." The case continues on Tuesday, with Mr Chang taking the stand.

- CNA/al

 

[General Veers]

'I was just her lawyer's clerk'

Apr 20, 2010
'I was just her lawyer's clerk'

By Selina Lum <!-- by line -->

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Dr Stephanie Chee, 51, a former management consultant, has claimed in her lawsuit that Mr Chang had told her he was a lawyer specialising in criminal matters. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

A BUSINESSMAN on Tuesday denied that he had mispresented himself as a lawyer to a woman who is now suing him for the return of $727,000 she had paid to him. Mr Chang Yue Shoon, 57, said his role in Dr Stephanie Chee Jok Heng's criminal case was merely that of a 'clerk', to help prepare documents so that her actual lawyer would go easy on the fees. Dr Chee, 51, a former management consultant, has claimed in her lawsuit that Mr Chang had told her he was a lawyer specialising in criminal matters.

Dr Chee, who used to be the general manager of three charities, paid him $45,000 over three months in 2006 as legal fees for handling her cheating case. She has since been sentenced to 13 months' jail for cheating the charities of about $5,700, but has filed an appeal. In court on Monday, she claimed that in 2007, after he told her that the police could seize her money, she entrusted him with $682,000 from the sales proceeds of her Maplewoods condominium.

Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[General Veers]

Ex-consultant wins lawsuit


May 25, 2010
Ex-consultant wins lawsuit

<!-- by line --> By Selina Lum
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The criminal case involving Dr Chee has ended with her being convicted of cheating three charitable organisations that she once headed of $5,700. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

A WOMAN embroiled in a criminal case and two civil suits has scored a victory in one of the civil suits. The High Court, in a written judgement, has ruled that Dr Stephanie Chee Jok Heng, 51, had been defrauded of $727,000 by businessman Chang Yue Shoon, 57, who had made himself out to be a lawyer at a time when she was desperate for legal advice. Justice Woo Bih Li ordered Mr Chang to return Dr Chee the $45,000 that she had paid him in 'legal fees' and the $682,000 from the sales proceeds of her apartment that she parked with him.

Dr Chee, who holds a doctorate in nursing but is now a housewife, first made the news for suing prominent wheelchair athlete William Tan Kian Meng last year. In that case, for which the court's decision is pending, she sought the return of about $400,000 in loans to Dr Tan and losses she made from the sale of another apartment. The criminal case involving Dr Chee has ended with her being convicted of cheating three charitable organisations that she once headed of $5,700. Her appeal against the conviction and the 13-month jail term is pending.

Her tangle with Mr Chang stemmed from that 2006 case. In need of legal advice, she contacted him after he was introduced to her by a business associate as 'a lawyer specialising in criminal matters'. She said he portrayed himself as a lawyer and claimed to be a friend and collaborator of well-known lawyer Peter Low. He told her that for $15,000 a month, he could give her legal advice together with Mr Low. She paid him for three months.

Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.