SINGAPORE: Anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh and her husband Raymond Ng are facing a court-ordered seizure of their possessions after they failed to pay legal costs from a defamation suit brought by former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng.
On Monday (Feb 10) at around 10am, a court sheriff and a lawyer representing Mr Cheng arrived at the couple's Farrer Park flat to enforce the order. However, after a brief but heated exchange, the couple refused them entry into their home.
According to the Singapore Courts website, a writ of seizure and sale allows a creditor to recover debts if a judgment debtor fails to pay. They can do this through an enforcement officer of the court, known as a sheriff, and officers who are empowered under the sheriff’s authority are known as bailiffs.
The items seized will then be sold, and proceeds from the sale may then be used to pay off the debt.
Law firm Lee & Lee, which is representing Mr Cheng, confirmed in an email that the seizure attempt on Monday was based on enforcement orders made by the court.
Court documents seen by CNA indicate the order permits seizure of property from Koh and Ng's home up to S$4,898.75 (US$3,600). This comprises S$4,498 owed to Mr Cheng and S$400 in sheriff fees.
The costs stem from a December case in which a district court dismissed Koh and Ng's application for Mr Cheng to remove an allegedly defamatory Facebook post. The case is part of an ongoing defamation suit filed by Koh, Ng and three other claimants launched against Mr Cheng over a Jun 21 post about COVID-19 vaccinations.
The court had previously ordered the claimants to pay Mr Cheng S$8,000 for his legal costs and an additional S$2,500 after a successful striking-out application.
While the other claimants – former Progress Singapore Party politician Bradley Bowyer, Bevan Tey and Chan Swee Cheong – have paid their share, Koh and Ng missed their Dec 30 deadline, Mr Cheng told CNA.
An email from Mr Cheng’s lawyers to the couple, seen by CNA, warned that enforcement and contempt proceedings could proceed if payment was not made by the deadline.
According to the Singapore Courts website, if enforcement fails due to a debtor's refusal, bailiffs cannot force entry on the first attempt. However, for subsequent attempts, they may engage a locksmith to gain access.
“I will press on. Costs of living are high, and every cent matters,” Mr Cheng wrote in a Facebook post.
Koh, responding to CNA, said she was surprised by the unannounced visit by the court sheriff, Mr Cheng’s lawyer and members of the media without notice from Mr Cheng’s legal team.
She said she had applied for a variation of the court order, a legal process where someone requests the court to modify or change the terms of an existing order.
“We expected the court order to be varied first then (we) pay,” she told CNA.
CNA has contacted the courts to determine whether such an application affects enforcement proceedings.
The couple are involved in other defamation suits, including one against National University of Singapore Associate Professor Ben Leong.
Separately, Koh faces a total of 14 charges, including for instigating members of Telegram groups to harass workers of various ministries in 2021, and for conspiring with a doctor to obtain fake COVID-19 vaccination certificates between 2021 and 2022.
Ng earlier this month was charged with cheating 12 people of more than S$60,800 in payments to co-own coffee vending machines.
Continue reading...
On Monday (Feb 10) at around 10am, a court sheriff and a lawyer representing Mr Cheng arrived at the couple's Farrer Park flat to enforce the order. However, after a brief but heated exchange, the couple refused them entry into their home.
According to the Singapore Courts website, a writ of seizure and sale allows a creditor to recover debts if a judgment debtor fails to pay. They can do this through an enforcement officer of the court, known as a sheriff, and officers who are empowered under the sheriff’s authority are known as bailiffs.
The items seized will then be sold, and proceeds from the sale may then be used to pay off the debt.
Law firm Lee & Lee, which is representing Mr Cheng, confirmed in an email that the seizure attempt on Monday was based on enforcement orders made by the court.
Court documents seen by CNA indicate the order permits seizure of property from Koh and Ng's home up to S$4,898.75 (US$3,600). This comprises S$4,498 owed to Mr Cheng and S$400 in sheriff fees.
The costs stem from a December case in which a district court dismissed Koh and Ng's application for Mr Cheng to remove an allegedly defamatory Facebook post. The case is part of an ongoing defamation suit filed by Koh, Ng and three other claimants launched against Mr Cheng over a Jun 21 post about COVID-19 vaccinations.
The court had previously ordered the claimants to pay Mr Cheng S$8,000 for his legal costs and an additional S$2,500 after a successful striking-out application.
Related:
While the other claimants – former Progress Singapore Party politician Bradley Bowyer, Bevan Tey and Chan Swee Cheong – have paid their share, Koh and Ng missed their Dec 30 deadline, Mr Cheng told CNA.
An email from Mr Cheng’s lawyers to the couple, seen by CNA, warned that enforcement and contempt proceedings could proceed if payment was not made by the deadline.
According to the Singapore Courts website, if enforcement fails due to a debtor's refusal, bailiffs cannot force entry on the first attempt. However, for subsequent attempts, they may engage a locksmith to gain access.
“I will press on. Costs of living are high, and every cent matters,” Mr Cheng wrote in a Facebook post.
Koh, responding to CNA, said she was surprised by the unannounced visit by the court sheriff, Mr Cheng’s lawyer and members of the media without notice from Mr Cheng’s legal team.
She said she had applied for a variation of the court order, a legal process where someone requests the court to modify or change the terms of an existing order.
“We expected the court order to be varied first then (we) pay,” she told CNA.
CNA has contacted the courts to determine whether such an application affects enforcement proceedings.
The couple are involved in other defamation suits, including one against National University of Singapore Associate Professor Ben Leong.
Separately, Koh faces a total of 14 charges, including for instigating members of Telegram groups to harass workers of various ministries in 2021, and for conspiring with a doctor to obtain fake COVID-19 vaccination certificates between 2021 and 2022.
Ng earlier this month was charged with cheating 12 people of more than S$60,800 in payments to co-own coffee vending machines.
Continue reading...