Indonesian woman sues photographer son for allegedly misappropriating money from joint accounts

Madam Lilyana Alwi, 86, is suing her son, 62-year-old Singaporean photographer John Arifin, for allegedly misappropriating at least $500,000 from their joint accounts. PHOTOS: LIANHE ZAOBAO

SINGAPORE - In 2007, an Indonesian woman and her eldest son opened a joint bank account in Singapore and deposited nearly US$850,000 (S$1.17 million) into it.

The money was subsequently spread over seven accounts held jointly by mother and son.

Now, Madam Lilyana Alwi, 86, is suing her son, 62-year-old Singaporean photographer John Arifin, for allegedly misappropriating at least $500,000 from the accounts.

She contends that all the money in the accounts belongs to her, while her son says the money was meant to be shared between them.

Madam Lilyana wants the court to allow her to withdraw the remaining money in the accounts, which were frozen by the banks in 2014 due to contradictory instructions given by the two account holders.

She also wants Mr Arifin to account for the sums he allegedly misappropriated, so that she can ascertain how much is to be paid to her.

In addition, she wants him to return pieces of jewellery she had allegedly given to him for safekeeping.

Mr Arifin has counterclaimed, asserting that he is entitled to half the money in the accounts.

He says all the withdrawals were joint decisions and is relying on documents signed by his mother to show that she had agreed to them.

As for the jewellery, these had been given to his wife and daughters over the years, he says.

A four-day hearing into the suit started on Tuesday (Aug 14).

The court heard that the initial deposit of US$849,581.36 came from the sales proceeds of an Indonesian property owned by Madam Lilyana's husband, businessman Hasan Arifin, who died in 2010.

Madam Lilyana, who is represented by Senior Counsel Deborah Barker of Withers Khattarwong, contends that her husband intended to pass the money to her as a gift.

She says the couple decided to deposit the money in Singapore. Mr John Arifin advised her to open a joint account so that he could help her manage the funds, she claims.

In 2014, she discovered that her son had misappropriated the money over the years, she says.

This included $335,000 that was withdrawn in 2008 after he allegedly misrepresented to her that he wanted to set up a fund for her grandchildren.

Another $60,000 was withdrawn in January 2014, based on his alleged misrepresentations that it was to repay debts owed to him and his wife by his father.

Mr John Arifin, who is represented by Senior Counsel N. Sreenivasan of Straits Law Practice, says his late father told him that the money was meant for both mother and son.

He says the withdrawals were to reimburse him for various payments he had made on behalf of his father over the years, including medical insurance and travel expenses.

The move to seek reimbursement followed concerns that his two younger brothers were asking their mother for money, he says. In 2013, Madam Lilyana said she wanted to use all the money in the accounts to buy a warehouse for her second son, Peter.

Mr John Arifin says his younger brothers continued to question him about the assets that their father had given to him, and three family meetings failed to resolve the unhappiness.

In 2016, Madam Lilyana won a summary judgment to withdraw half of the remaining funds, after her son admitted that at least 50 per cent of the money was hers.

As of early this year, about $152,000 remains in the accounts.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.