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Court orders Iris Koh, Raymond Ng’s items to be seized after they fail to pay costs in defamation suit
The authorities on Feb 10 informing Iris Koh and Raymond Ng at their Farrer Park Road flat that their possessions would be seized. PHOTO: ST
David Sun
UPDATED FEB 10, 2025, 12:46 PM
SINGAPORE - Items belonging to anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh and her husband Raymond Ng were ordered to be seized and sold after the couple failed to pay costs in a defamation suit they had filed that was struck out.
Lawyers of former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng and a court sheriff turned up at their home in Farrer Park Road at about 10.20am on Feb 10.
They had attempted to execute an enforcement order for the seizure of Koh and Ng’s possessions but were unsuccessful as the couple did not let them into their Housing Board flat.
Forced entry is not typically exercised by the sheriff on the first attempt at execution, but it may be used, if necessary, on subsequent attempts.
Koh, 48, and Ng, 51, along with former Progress Singapore Party member Brad Bowyer, Mr Bevan Tey and Mr Chan Swee Cheong, had previously filed a defamation suit against Mr Cheng over comments he made on Facebook in June 2024 that criticised people spreading misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.
The suit was struck out in December 2024 after the judge found that it was an abuse of court processes and it was in the interest of justice to strike it out.
Ng, Mr Tey and Mr Chan were ordered to pay Mr Cheng $2,500 plus goods and services tax (GST) in costs.
Additionally, the judge said the alleged defamatory statements were also not clearly defamatory, and ordered the five of them, including Koh and Mr Bowyer, to pay Mr Cheng $8,000 plus GST in costs.
Mr Bowyer, Mr Tey and Mr Chan have paid up.
On Jan 21, the court issued enforcement orders for the seizure of Koh and Ng’s possessions after they failed to pay.
The first order involved the seizing of about $4,900 worth of property from Koh and Ng, while the second order involved the seizing of about $2,300 worth of property belonging to Ng.
When contacted, Mr Cheng said he intends to apply for a second attempt at executing the enforcement orders.
He said: “Costs of living are high. Every cent matters.”
Separately, on Feb 7, Ng was handed 12 cheating charges involving nearly $61,000 linked to a company called Vendshare that dealt with vending machines.
Ng, who is a former director at the firm, said he was not pleading guilty. His case will be heard again on March 7.
Koh is currently facing 14 charges over offences such as criminal conspiracy and harassment.
She has claimed trial, with the next hearing expected to be on March 4.
- David Sun is The Straits Times’ crime correspondent. He has a background in criminology and is a licensed private investigator.
