Man sues wife, 3 family members over $1.8m house

He's also suing 3 couples, who belong to religious group, for trespass

Straits Times/May 12, 2004
By Selina Lum

A former Singapore Airlines pilot is suing his wife and other members of his family over a $1.8 million two-storey bungalow in Sembawang co-owned by them.

Mr Steven Joshua, 56, wants the High Court to allow him to sell it and distribute the proceeds according to each co-owner's contribution.

He is claiming 75 per cent of the proceeds because he says he made the biggest financial contribution.

The house was bought for $700,000 in 1986 and registered in the names of Mr Joshua, his wife Deborah, 55, his sisters Rachel, 50, and Rebekah, 47, and the latter's husband Isaac Benjamin, 49.

The family members belonged to a religious group known as the House of Israel, which made the headlines nine years ago after three of its members lost a libel suit filed against The Straits Times for describing it as a 'sect' in a 1989 report.

Mr and Mrs Benjamin left the group in 1993 and Mr Joshua in 2001.

In the suit, Mr Joshua says he contributed more than $200,000 of his Central Provident Fund savings to the house, while the others, between $10,800 and $23,400.

This is the second time the house has been the subject of a lawsuit. In 1996, Mr and Mrs Benjamin filed a suit against the other three co-owners. They settled the matter through mediation and it was agreed that the couple be given a 20 per cent share.

They are not contesting the present claim although they are named as defendants.

He is also suing three other couples belonging to the religious group who are living in the house now. He wants them out of the house and to pay damages for trespass.

They are: Mr Joseph Aaron, 57, his wife Anne, 55; Mr Samuel Abraham, 39, his wife Lydia, 38; Mr Aquila Moses, 40, and his wife Priscilla, 34.

However, they say that they are not trespassing.

The eight defendants - the three couples, Mr Joshua's wife and his sister Rachel - claim that Mr Joshua had been holding his share of the property for them in trust.

Lawyer James Leslie Ponniah, acting for Mr Joshua, said in his opening statement that the three couples accused of trespassing had made no financial contribution towards the house.

However, defence lawyer Daniel John said that $70,000 from a common kitty that all the group's members had contributed to had been invested in the house.

The idea for this fund was said to have been mooted by the group's leader, Mrs Anne Aaron, in 1985. She kept the money in a biscuit tin.

Mr Joshua told the court he did not know how much of this was his, because he had handed his salary to his wife and left it to her to make the contributions. He said she gave him a monthly allowance of $250 to $300.