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Dispute relates to funds used to buy House of Tan Yeok Nee and Big HotelSAKAE Holdings chief executive Douglas Foo has fired another legal salvo at the company's former director Andy Ong Siew Kwee and others, in relation to funds used in the purchase of the House of Tan Yeok Nee and Big Hotel, among other things.迷你倉西貢Sakae, a minority shareholder in Griffin Real Estate Investment Holdings (GREIH) and Gryphon Capital Management (GCM), in an SGX statement yesterday, said it has filed two new lawsuits alleging that the affairs of both companies were conducted in a manner that is oppressive and prejudicial to its interests.According to court documents inspected by The Business Times, Mr Andy Ong, founder and CEO of ERC Holdings, the holding company of the ERC group of companies, and his two associates, Ong Han Boon and Ho Yew Kong, are accused of treating the funds of GREIH as their personal funds and diverting these for the benefit of the ERC group of companies, including ERC Unicampus, ERC Institute and ERC Consulting.ERC Holdings is an 80 per cent shareholder of GCM, which manages GREIH's real estate investments, including Bugis Cube, a six-storey commercial property at 470 North Bridge Road. Mr Ong Han Boon is a director of ERC Holdings and GCM, while Mr Ho is the sole director of Gryphon Real Estate Investment Corp (GREIC).The suit alleges, among other things, that the monies were used by ERC group to fund the purchase of the House of Tan Yeok Nee, a gazetted national monument along Penang Road, and Big Hotel.In one instance, GREIH monies were allegedly diverted to GCM and then assigned to DBS so that ERC International, a former subsidiary of ERC Holdings, could obtain a $48.6 million loan to partially fund the purchase of the House of Tan Yeok Nee, the suit said.To obtain the $48.6 million loan, GCM's rights to receive management fees from GREIH were allegedly assigned to DBS, the suit said."Such conduct is oppressive to Sakae and is in disregard of Sakae's interests as a minority shareholder of GREIH," Sakae said in a 131-page suit filed on its behalf by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh and Jaikanth Shankar of Drew & Napier LLC. Sakae is a 24.69 per cent shareholder of GREIH.Mr Andy Ong had bought the two-storey freehold property at slightly over $60 million in September 2012 from German fund manager Union Investment Real Estate AG, and sold it three months ago to Pua Seck Guan's Perennial Real Estate Holdings for under $90 million.ERC International was recently renamed TYN Investment after ERC Holdings sold all of its shares in the unit to TYN Investment Group, whose directors include Perennial's Mr Pua, Tong Ka-Pin and Goh Hwee Peng.Another $16 million of GREIH monies ar迷你倉將軍澳 believed to have been diverted to the ERC group of companies for the purchase of the House of Tan Yeok Nee, the suit said. The defendants, purportedly acting on behalf of GREIH, agreed to pay a $16 million compensation fee for early termination of a lease agreement with ERC Institute - a lease that was not approved by GREIH's board, according to the suit.The suit added that Mr Andy Ong, Mr Ong Han Boon and Mr Ho were in breach of their fiduciary duties to GREIH when they allegedly diverted the business opportunity to buy the House of Tan Yeok Nee to ERC International.In addition, a $10 million loan from UOB that was meant for GREIH's working capital requirements was used, allegedly at Mr Andy Ong and Mr Ong Han Boon's directions, to fund ERC Unicampus's purchase of Prime Centre, now known as Big Hotel, at 200 Middle Road.The suit cited media reports as saying that Big Hotel has been placed for sale on a tender basis, and that offers for its purchase have been invited.But Mr Andy Ong disputed the allegations. In a statement to BT yesterday, he said: "All the allegations are baseless and are subject matter of two previous suits that have already been withdrawn by Sakae, and costs were paid to me. We will study the two suits before making an appropriate response."Mr Ong Han Boon and Mr Ho did not return calls for comment.In a previous round, Sakae dropped the two suits it filed earlier this year against Mr Andy Ong after it secured rights to jointly control a special bank account holding tens of millions of dollars in proceeds from the sale of Bugis Cube.It also settled a defamation case against his public relations firm, Financial PR, but is proceeding with one other suit against him for breach of fiduciary duties when he was Sakae's independent director.Among reliefs sought in the new suits, Sakae is seeking a declaration that the ERC group of companies are liable to account to GREIH for the proceeds from the sale of the two properties and other monies as a constructive trustee.Other reliefs sought include declarations that certain agreements and transactions are void, repayment of various monies to GREIH and GCM, an account of all unauthorised profits and gains the defendants have made as a result of a number of transactions Sakae said were "not properly authorised", according to the SGX statement.Sakae is also seeking an order that GREIC and ERC Holdings buy Sakae's entire shareholding in GREIH at a price to be fixed by a court-appointed independent expert, or alternatively, for GREIH to be wound up.Sakae also wants an order for ERC Holdings to buy Sakae's 20 per cent stake in GCM at a price fixed by a court-appointed expert, or alternatively, for GCM to be wound up.迷你倉尖沙咀