Shocking case of fraud of wife that tried to cheat husband of his $25m inheritance

This was a case that was fought up to the highest court in Singapore last year (the Court of Appeal).

The husband is from a rich family and owned 2 apartments given to him by his father. After his mother suddenly died, his lawyer wife persuaded him to sign a declaration of trust (DOT) in favour of their 2 year old son. She lies to him that the DOT will only be effective when the husband dies, and meanwhile he has full control of his assets.

The DOT is a legal document where a person states that everything he owns, he is holding for someone else, in this case, their 2 year old son. If the DOT is valid, the husband would be penniless, and all his assets would be controlled by whoever was taking care of his son.

The husband later goes to court and explains the wife's trickery. He also shows that he was very upset about the death of his mother and had no other persons to confide in except his wife. The court allows him to cancel the declaration of trust.

To clarify the story about the husband's mother, she was described as a socialite by the local newspaper. Her assets included 2 good class bungalows and her estate was worth about $50 million. Her will divided her estate between the husband in the lawsuit and his sister, so each would stand to inherit $25 million.