SINGAPORE: An antique dealer was sentenced to two years and five months’ jail on Monday (Mar 3) for selling a client’s Qing Dynasty vase to pay off his debts.
Kuok Chio, 42, also returned the same collector a fake calligraphy work after damaging the original painting when he was trying to clean it.
Kuok, who owns antique business Chinese Art Centre, previously pleaded guilty to three charges of acquiring the benefits of criminal conduct, criminal breach of trust and cheating.
Two other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
In October 2023, Kuok asked the client, Dr Chan Chi Chin, if he could bring two pieces from Dr Chan’s collection to Hong Kong for valuation.
Dr Chan agreed to let Kuok bring one vase to Hong Kong to have it valued – a “blue and white garlic-head vase” made during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, who ruled Qing Dynasty China from 1735 to 1796.
The vase was worth at least HK$1,800,000 (about S$315,000), according to court documents.
Dr Chan told Kuok that he was not to sell the vase without his consent, and Kuok agreed. Kuok also issued a post-dated cheque for S$50,000 from his company account to the collector as collateral.
However, at the time, Kuok owed more than S$60,000 and his business was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. He decided to sell the vase to pay off his debts.
He contacted an antique dealer to sell the vase the same evening that he received it. He sold the vase for S$150,000 in cash, which he used in part to pay off his debts.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordon Li pointed out that Kuok further tried to conceal his offence by returning Dr Chan a replica of the vase with a forged label claiming to be from an auction house.
A few years prior, Kuok also deceived Dr Chan over a calligraphy work by Singaporean artist Lim Tze Peng, who was awarded a Cultural Medallion in 2003.
The painting was described in court documents as “Shui Diao Ge Tow, Chinese Ink on Paper”, which is the name of a Song Dynasty poem. Dr Chan had bought it for S$18,000.
In June 2021, Kuok came across the painting hanging on a wall in Dr Chan’s home. He pointed out some stains and advised Dr Chan to have it professionally cleaned.
The collector allowed Kuok to take the painting to have it professionally cleaned, and paid Kuok S$2,700 for his services, including transportation.
However, Kuok damaged the work when he incorrectly prepared a chemical mixture for cleaning and caused some of the ink to smudge. He did not know how to clean the painting, and had followed an online video tutorial.
To cover up his misstep, Kuok got a copy of the painting printed using a photo that he took prior to the cleaning, and put this in a white PVC pipe.
On Jan 24, 2022, Kwok brought the PVC pipe to Dr Chan. He told Dr Chan that the painting was stored in the pipe and that he should not open it as the pipe contained nitrogen gas which would help to preserve the artwork.
Dr Chan did not open the pipe and left it in his office.
Almost two years later, when Dr Chan was confronting Kuok about the vase at his office, he noticed a painting that had similar stains to the one he owned.
When he asked Kuok about it, Kuok claimed that it was a different painting. But Dr Chan did not pursue the matter as he was focused on the vase.
The deceit came to light in June 2024, when Dr Chan was moving house and decided to reframe the painting and hang it up.
He brought the PVC pipe to an art dealer’s office, where the staff told him that the painting inside was a fake.
The penalty for acquiring benefits from criminal conduct is up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.
For criminal breach of trust, Kuok faced up to seven years in jail, a fine, or both. For cheating, he could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
