“Landlord” being investigated for voluntarily causing hurt and theft

Singapore — In a new development in the story of netizen Don Tan, who said the “landlord” of his office unit had assaulted his wife and child, the “landlord” has given his side of the story.

Chinese news site Lianhe Wanbao reported that the man, who had claimed to be the landlord of the office unit in Midview City, said he had indeed pushed Mr Tan’s wife on Nov 21.

The woman, he said, was pulling his collar. He added that at one point he was choking and could not breathe.

However, he said he did not bite the woman, as Mr Tan alleged in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Dec 2).

On the day of the incident, the man claimed to have gone to the office unit to check on it. He saw a refrigerator and a mattress there and suspected that people were staying there illegally.

“I have a responsibility to ensure that the unit is not being used illegally,” he told Lianhe Wanbao.

The man also said he was never told his agreement with the actual owner of the office unit had ceased. He claimed to only have discovered that the contract had been terminated after the incident with Mr Tan’s wife. He had been unable before that to reach Mr Tan and the owner of the unit.

The man also rejected the claim that he had illegally sublet the unit. He said he had a verbal agreement with the owner for subletting it.

“Even if you want to end the contract, you should communicate with me properly. You should not go behind my back to sign a new agreement with the new tenant,” said the man.

His identity was not disclosed in Mr Tan’s post and in the Lianhe Wanbao interview.

Moreover, he said he did not steal the memory card of Mr Tan’s surveillance camera. He added that, when he went to the office unit on Nov 22, he was still the legal tenant as he had not been told that the agreement had been terminated.

He told Lianhe Wanbao that he called the police when he saw Mr Tan unlocking the door to the unit. But after Mr Tan showed the police the papers proving the man’s tenancy agreement was no longer in effect, he left the premises.

The police are investigating the man in relation to a case of voluntarily causing hurt and a case of theft.

Mr Tan refuted the man’s claim that they stayed in the unit illegally, as they have a home in Woodlands. On occasion, when he and his wife worked overtime, they stayed in the office unit overnight. /TISG

Read also: Netizen: Man who posed as landlord assaulted my wife and child

Netizen: Man who posed as landlord assaulted my wife and child