An elderly woman has taken her daughter-in-law to court over a loan dispute, in a bid to recover the remaining $220,185 that she says the younger woman still owes her.
According to Shin Min Daily News, she claims to have lent her daughter-in-law a total of $410,496 over nine occasions, documented by four IOUs. However, only $190,311 has been repaid.
Court documents show that the plaintiff Chen Rongying (transliterated) is suing Li Wenxuan (transliterated) over the alleged unpaid amount. The case was heard amid ongoing divorce proceedings between Li and Chen’s son.
The loans were made between May 7, 2018, and Sept 28, 2021, with individual amounts ranging from $1,500 to $200,000. Chen says that the funds were meant to help Li with a property purchase, living expenses, investments, and to trade cryptocurrencies.
She also prepared four IOUs written in Chinese, all of which were signed by Li.
Summary judgment sought for four of the loans
Chen sought a summary judgment for four of the loans.
In his ruling, the deputy registrar noted that while Li signed the IOUs, she did not admit to having received the money.
And while she claimed to have repaid part of the loans, Li failed to provide evidence such as bank statements or text messages to support her claim.
The deputy registrar ultimately found that the prima facie evidence submitted by Chen was sufficient and ruled that the defendant must repay $175,689.
Defendant claims $200,000 was plaintiff’s gift to son
Li admitted to receiving four of the loans but denied the other five, claiming that the $200k payment was a gift from Chen to her son to invest in cryptocurrencies.
She also said she did not receive three other payments of $1,500, $2,500 and $20,000. Even if she had received the former amounts, Li said the money would have been spent on household necessities.
Of the remaining payments, Li acknowledged receiving $9,496 but said it was for home renovations and not a loan.
Sheadded that she had no obligation to repay it, but returned $110k out of respect for the plaintiff.
However, the deputy registrar pointed out that if the money was indeed a gift, it was unclear why she would return part of it. There was also no proof the funds were used for cryptocurrency trading.
Elderly woman sues daughter-in-law over $220k loan dispute
