Where Has The $4.77m Gone?

Source : TODAY, Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Arcade manager missing after allegedly producing false invoices, vouchers

HE was tasked to render building management services to the 19-storey Arcade complex at Raffles Place.

But for 11 years, former complex manager Wilson Loh Wan Wah allegedly produced false invoices and payment vouchers — inducing the building’s management corporation to make out 102 cheques, amounting to $4.77 million, to his business.

Now, Mr Loh is missing, along with the sum which he allegedly pocketed, according to court documents.

The Arcade (picture) management corporation has filed a civil suit against Mr Loh’s former employers — DTZ Debenham Tie Leung South-East Asia and DTZ Debenham Tie Leung Property Management Services — arguing that they had failed to fulfil their duties in managing the building’s monies and accounts. The Arcade’s management is represented by lawyers Latiff Ibrahim and Lynette Chew of Harry Elias Partnership in the suit.

The Arcade management said in the court documents engaging DTZ’s managing agent had implied that the company would “exercise reasonable skill and care expected of a reasonably competent managing agent”. This agent would also “act in good faith and in the interest” of The Arcade.

But Mr Loh — in his late 30s — apparently did not. A statement of claim filed by The Arcade in the High Court on June 15 this year showed that on Oct 4, 2005, DTZ convened an urgent meeting with The Arcade after a cheque for the sum of $524,000 paid to a sub-contractor was not honoured by a bank. DTZ could not contact Mr Loh and files, documents and a computer hard disk from his workstation at The Arcade were also found to be missing.

Irregularities in The Arcade’s accounts were discovered. Mr Loh had shown a set of 2003 accounts that showed a balance of $2.7 million in the management fund, while an audited version showed a balance of just $45,000.

Further investigations later revealed Mr Loh had produced false invoices and payment vouchers purporting to various sums due to Wilkins Enterprise, a business he had set up. Mr Loh would allegedly present these invoices to The Arcade’s management council members and “induce” them to sign cheques for payments to Wilkins, according to the court documents.

The largest cheque issued was in July 17, 1995, when a sum of $163,838 was paid to Wilkins. To allegedly cover up the fraud, in some cases, Mr Loh would name other parties who had business dealings with The Arcade as the cheques’ payees. He had also apparently produced eight sets of fraudulent accounts from 1997 to 2004 and presented them to The Arcade.

Mr Loh was engaged by DTZ Leung from April 1991 to Feb 6, 2005. In a statement to TODAY, DTZ said it had no further comments on the suit — adding that DTZ is also an aggrieved party and the matter was the subject of legal proceedings.

But DTZ said it had “acted promptly” when the matter was discovered on Oct 3, 2005. Besides explaining the situation to all proprietors at The Arcade, DTZ also made available an emergency fund of $100,000 to ensure The Arcade remained operational.

DTZ said it reported the disappearance of Mr Loh to the police in October 2005. Mr Loh was declared a bankrupt on Feb 23.

The Arcade is seeking the $4.77 million, interest on the sum and costs.