An Employee’s Breach of Fiduciary Duties and the Liability of Third Parties for Dishonest Assistance

When a company uncovers schemes perpetrated by one of its employees, a key question will be what recourse is available against the employee, and whether the company may also seek recourse against the employee’s collaborators. This was the situation faced by the Singapore High Court in Sumifru Singapore Pte Ltd v Felix Santos Ishizuka [2022] SGHC 14.

The Court found that the 1st Defendant employee, in his role as shipping director and given his scope of functions, owed fiduciary duties to the Plaintiff employer, and had breached these duties by perpetrating various schemes against the interests of the Plaintiff. The Court further found the 2nd and 3rd Defendants, companies owned and controlled by the 1st Defendant, to be jointly and severally liable on the basis of dishonest assistance. The Plaintiff was successfully represented by Winston Kwek, Dedi Ahmad, Li Kun Hang and Dharini Ravi of Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP.