Baker, Michael A (executor of the estate of Chantal Burnison, deceased) v BCS Business Consulting Services Pte Ltd and others
Jurisdiction | Singapore |
Judge | Quentin Loh JAD |
Judgment Date | 27 December 2021 |
Neutral Citation | [2021] SGHC(I) 19 |
Court | International Commercial Court (Singapore) |
Docket Number | Suit No 3 of 2018 (Summons No 25 of 2021) |
Year | 2021 |
Published date | 06 January 2022 |
Hearing Date | 23 September 2021,24 September 2021 |
Plaintiff Counsel | Woo Shu Yan, Tay Hong Zhi Gerald and Lim Qiu Yi Regina (Drew & Napier LLC) |
Defendant Counsel | Chong Pao Lan Monica, Vithiya d/o Rajendra, Wong Zheng Hui Daryl, Wang Yufei and Daryl Kwok Wai Tat (Guo Weide) (WongPartnership LLP) |
Citation | [2021] SGHC(I) 19 |
SIC/SUM 25/2021 (“SUM 25”) is the final tranche of the dispute between the parties over the rights to the inventions and patents of the compound, “Ethocyn” (“the Ethocyn Rights”), and the income or proceeds generated therefrom (collectively, “the Trust Assets”), and the moneys paid by Nu Skin International Inc (“Nu Skin”) to the first defendant, BCS Business Consulting Services Pte Ltd (“BCS”) (“the Trust Moneys”). In
After several rounds of correspondence, Baker remained dissatisfied with the account that the Defendants had provided. SUM 25 is Baker’s application for the Defendants to pay (a) US$10,313,895.25 and CHF1,662,894.67, being the amount that Baker claims is due to the Estate on the taking of the account of the Trust Assets and Trust Moneys; and (b) interest on the Trust Assets and Trust Moneys at the rate of 5.33% per annum from 30 October 2017 until the date when the Trust Assets and Trust Moneys are fully paid and returned to him.
FactsThe detailed facts concerning this dispute can be found in the Judgment. For present purposes, we summarise the dispute between the parties and the decision of this court as found in the Judgment, which provides the context for the analysis below.
The partiesChantal was the co-inventor of Ethocyn. The Ethocyn Rights were initially assigned to California-incorporated companies controlled by Chantal (“the Chantal Companies”). The Chantal Companies entered bankruptcy proceedings in February 1999, and the Ethocyn Rights, among other assets, were sold to a New Zealand company (“Renslade (NZ)”) before being transferred to a Singapore company (“Renslade (S)”), and finally to BCS.
In June 2003, the Defendants entered into an agreement with Nu Skin to supply Ethocyn (the “Nu Skin SDA”). These payments formed the bulk of moneys generated from the Ethocyn Rights, which we referred to earlier as the “Trust Moneys”. Sometime in or around 2007, the bulk of Trust Moneys were transferred from BCS to Renslade (HK). In or around 2014, Weber also withdrew a sum of CHF9.5m from the Trust Moneys. After Chantal passed away on 2 October 2016, Baker became the executor of the Estate. He sought to have the assets of the trust and Trust Moneys transferred to the Estate. When this was not done, Baker commenced the present suit (“the Suit”) in Singapore.
Background to the dispute and this court’s judgmentThe central issue in dispute in the Suit was the beneficial ownership of the Trust Assets and the Trust Moneys. Baker claimed that Chantal remained the beneficial owner of the Ethocyn Rights. She had entered into an agreement with Weber (“the Trust Agreement”) for Weber to acquire the Ethocyn Rights from Renslade (NZ) and to hold any income or proceeds generated from the Ethocyn Rights on trust for her (we refer to this trust as “the Trust”). Under this Trust Agreement, the Defendants were entitled to retain only 5% of the proceeds generated. Further, although Chantal had agreed to loan Weber CHF6m, Weber then took the CHF9.5m from the Trust Moneys without her knowledge or consent. Baker therefore sought the return of the Trust Assets and Trust Moneys, as well as a return of the CHF9.5m taken by Weber.
After a trial of the matter, we issued our Judgment on 29 April 2020, in which we held as follows:
We therefore made orders pertaining to the relief sought by the plaintiff. The parties have since extracted the order of court in SIC/JUD 5/2020 (“the Order”), and we reproduce the relevant portions here:
…
[emphasis in original omitted]
Subsequently, in CA/CA 76/2020, the Defendants appealed against our decision in the Judgment (“the Appeal”). On 19 January 2021, the Court of Appeal dismissed the Appeal in its entirety and affirmed the Judgment of this court.
Steps taken in the provision of the accountThe parties’ correspondence over the Defendants’ provision of the account is extensive, and we summarise only the salient developments in the following timeline:1
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