Violet Oon’s business partner takes stand, says family knew control would be diluted

MANOJ Murjani, the business partner of restaurateur Violet Oon and her family, said on Monday (Jul 17) that the family had agreed to terms that limited their control over their food and beverage business.

He made those arguments as Oon’s lawyer sought to show that he had tried to increase his stake in the company by converting part of his loans to the company into shareholders equity.

Those loans included a S$1.55 million sum that Murjani said was owed to him by Oon and her two children for increasing their salaries, allegedly without his consent or knowledge. Those salary increases were to be repaid over three years as if they were a loan by Murjani, he said.