Mr Koh Joo Ann testified on Tuesday that the condo was a reward for decades of service to the family business, the Indonesia-based Sambu group.

But he said his uncle, the family patriarch, forced him to turn over the apartment, along with shares in several companies, when he resigned suddenly as vice president director in 2004.

'He has always been an emperor and he can change any time,'' Mr Koh said of his 70-year-old uncle, Mr Tay Juhana.

The 53-year-old Mr Koh wants the High Court to declare him the owner of the 266 sq m Stevens Road unit, one of six built by Inhil Investment, another family company.

Family members own the other units in the four-storey development.

Mr Tay is the president director of the Sambu group, which makes coconut-based products such as coconut oil and cream. Mr Koh is suing the group's marketing arm.

The firm, First Grade Agency, has made a counter-claim against Mr Koh, asking the court to hand it the property.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.