Man loses case to claw back $369,000 he spent on lavish gifts for ex-girlfriend

A Singaporean man has lost a court case to claw back hundreds of thousands of dollars that he had lavished on his ex-girlfriend while they were together.

The S$468,000 ($369,200; £273,260) that Chander Agarwal attempted to recover from Felicia Lee was money he had "willingly" spent on her, the Singapore High Court ruled.

Agarwal "displayed a consistent pattern of showering [Lee] with lavish gifts" even before they got together and would reassure her that he did not expect repayment, Senior Judge Lee Seiu Kin said.

Agarwal, the CEO of a logistics company, met Felicia Lee, a former flight attendant, during a flight in 2019. They were in a romantic relationship from September 2022 to December 2023, the court heard.

Their relationship fell apart after Agarwal suspected Lee of having an affair.

Agarwal, who launched the suit in March 2024, argued that Lee had "requested various interest-free loans" from him over the course of their relationship.

He claimed that these included S$206,000 in credit card charges, S$129,000 for overseas trips, S$17,000 to engage a fengshui master for her apartment, and S$20,000 to pay for her life insurance premiums.

Lee argued that these were "gifts made out of love and affection" and not loans.

In agreeing with Lee, the judge noted that Agarwal's case lacked documentary evidence - for instance, he could not produce any proof that Lee had acknowledged receipt of the loans that she had allegedly requested.

"The evidence before me clearly shows that the claimant, smitten by the defendant, had showered her with expensive gifts during their relationship," the judge said.

"Unfortunately, when their relationship ended on a sour note, [Agarwal] became embittered and was determined to extract a price from her."

The judge also noted that Agarwal was "clearly a man of ample means who has expensive tastes", in contrast to Lee "who was not in that league".

In many text messages Lee had "expressed her awe when [Agarwal] suggested expensive gifts, and on occasion, her spontaneous reluctance to accept them", the judge noted.

In concluding his written judgement, the judge cited English playwright William Congreve, who wrote in his tragedy satire The Mourning Bride: "Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred turn'd, nor hell a fury, like a woman scorn'd."

"This case shows that such emotion is not the sole province of one gender," he said.

In early 2023, another Singaporean man had filed two lawsuits – in claims amounting to over S$3m - against a woman who rejected his romantic advances.

K Kawshigan claimed that Nora Tan's rejection brought him emotional trauma and caused damage to his reputation.

The Singapore courts struck out his suits. Tan later counter-sued Kawshigan to claim back expenses she said she had incurred while defending herself from his alleged harassment.