CEO who sued ex-girlfriend over lavish gifts loses case

By Laura Sharman, CNN

(CNN) — A CEO has failed in his bid to sue his ex-girlfriend in Singapore’s high court for almost $370,000 (SGD $468,090) after breaking up with her, claiming she owed him for luxury gifts he lavished on her during their relationship.

Chander Agarwal showered Felicia Lee with Hermes, Dior and Prada items and splashed out tens of thousands of dollars on first class flight tickets.

Among other things, he also said he paid big sums of money for her life insurance premiums, a university program and Lee’s personal expenses on his American Express credit card, court documents showed.

Agarwal also spent thousands on a feng shui master to “spiritually harmonise” Lee’s flat. He argued in court that this “must have been a loan” since he is Indian and does not believe in the ancient practice.

Senior Judge Lee Seiu Kin on Thursday dismissed the case, saying in a written judgement that the money spent was on gifts and can’t be considered loans.

Agarwal is the CEO of an Indian logistics company. Lee is a former flight attendant.

According to court documents, the two met on a flight in 2019. In 2022, they began a romantic relationship but broke up at the end of 2023 after he suspected her of cheating on him.

Agarwal had produced a handwritten agreement with his and her signatures supporting his claim. Lee denied signing it. The significance of the document was ultimately dismissed by the judge.

In the end, the court found that Agarwal could not prove Lee had asked for any of the disputed sums of money or agreed to repay him.

The judge said the evidence clearly showed that Agarwal, “smitten” by Lee, “had showered her with expensive gifts during their relationship” and noted her “spontaneous reluctance to accept them” on occasion.

“It is incredible that for a relationship that lasted for more than a year with so many WhatsApp messages exchanged between them, the Claimant could not point to any written evidence to support his case,” the judge said.

“It is also inherently incredible that the Defendant, with her relatively modest salary, would repeatedly borrow such significant sums to spend on luxury items.”

He added that positions taken by Agarwal in court were “contrary to common sense and unsustainable.”

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