Jail for CEO who assaulted elderly man, causing fractures

The chief executive of mainboard-listed company Vibrant Group was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on July 24 after he shoved an elderly man down a flight of stairs, following a dispute over money-related matters.

Khua Kian Keong assaulted former chairman of KTL Global Tan Tock Han, then 74, at the office of its subsidiary, KTL Offshore, in Gul Road near Pioneer Road, on Jan 13, 2021.

After a trial, District Judge Ronald Gwee convicted Khua, 55, on one count of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Mr Tan, who had suffered facial fractures.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon said in her submissions that the Tan and Khua families had enjoyed a cordial relationship for over 50 years before the attack.

Khua and Mr Tan’s son, Mr Wilson Tan Kheng Yeow, had known each other since they were in their mid-teens. They also used to meet for dinner and drinks.

The DPP added that Khua had also served in many organisations together with Mr Tan – the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Thong Chai Hospital’s board of directors, the Singapore Metal and Machinery Association and the Singapore-China Business Association.

“They were effectively household names in the circle of local Chinese businessmen, among whom the accused also enjoyed a good reputation,” said DPP Poon.

According to Khua, Mr Wilson Tan needed financial help and approached him for loans totalling over $2.4 million in 2014 and 2015.

The prosecutor said that in Khua’s view, these monies were meant to be loans and were not investments.

DPP Poon told the court: “He charged no interest and extended the loans only because he treated Wilson as a good friend.

“There was also no document specifying that these were only loans (as) their friendship surpassed such black-and-white documentation.”

Khua reached out to Mr Tan when Mr Wilson Tan did not repay the money.

DPP Poon said: “His efforts to reclaim the monies or to get the victim to properly acknowledge the debt owed were futile.

“For six years, the accused did not exact an ultimatum as the Tans would keep saying that their life is tough (and) the business has been poor...(Khua’s) goodwill, however, was not repaid in kind.”

The court heard that in 2018, Khua encountered some cashflow issues in his company. He requested the Tans again to return the money.

By this point, Khua felt the Tan family had proven themselves to be “untrustworthy”, according to court documents.

Describing Khua as a very rich man, DPP Poon said the loss of the money did not affect his livelihood. “It had become about both the principle and the money itself, and about whether the Tan family had any sincerity in returning the sum to him,” she added.

Khua had made at least 16 attempts at communicating with Mr Tan between 2018 and 2021 in a bid to resolve the dispute, the court heard.

Khua then went to KTL Offshore’s office on Jan 13, 2021, to collect what court documents referred to as a “symbolic sum”.

“No matter how paltry $100,000 was to him in the grand scheme of things, it had taken on symbolic significance, and he had headed to the office resolute that he would collect at least this partial payment,” DPP Poon said.

When Mr Tan did not accede to this demand, Khua lost his temper and pushed him down a flight of stairs, the court heard.

The firm’s employees heard a noise and found Mr Tan at the bottom of the flight of stairs, bloodied and injured. He told them that Khua had pushed him.

Khua, who was represented by lawyers Wendell Wong, Andrew Chua and Timothy Hsu, claimed the elderly man had fallen.

Pleading for their client to be given one to two weeks’ jail, the lawyers from Drew & Napier said the parties involved in the case had agreed to be part of a settlement agreement in November 2022.

Among other things, Mr Tan was willing to absolve Khua of all claims in respect of the incident. They also decided to discontinue all civil matters between them.

Khua, who is out on bail of $10,000, was ordered to surrender himself at the State Courts on Aug 7 to begin serving his sentence.