A WEALTHY American socialite says a diamond ring worth more than
$300,000 went missing while she was staying at the Shangri-La Hotel
in Singapore last year.
Now, multi-millionaire Anne Hendricks Bass, 68, has gone to
court to force the hotel to make good her loss.
A longtime arts patron with a passion for dance, she was
described by The New York Times last month as one of the richest
women in the United States after her 1988 divorce from Texas
billionaire Sid Bass.
Ms Bass claims that her Paris-made gold ring, which had a 6.41
carat diamond valued at US$220,000 (S$307,000) on it, went missing
on Feb6 last year, two days after she checked into the
Shangri-La.
According to court documents, she said she placed the ring on a
table in the bedroom of her two-room suite at about 6.30pm that
day, shortly before getting a massage.
She said two hotel employees were with her for about an hour in
the room, while another entered at about 9.15pm to deliver a meal
she ordered.
Ms Bass claimed she realised the ring was missing only at 10pm,
when she was about to check out.
She alerted hotel staff to help her look for it, but the search
proved fruitless.
She then made a police report on the advice of hotel staff, and
postponed her departure by a day to continue the search, which was
ultimately unsuccessful.
After checking out on Feb 7 last year, she offered a US$50,000
reward for any information leading to the recovery of the ring. But
that also proved futile.
Now, she wants the hotel to pay her damages.
Ms Bass, who is based in New York, is represented by lawyer
Eugene Thuraisingam of Stamford Law Corporation. She is alleging
that the hotel failed to provide adequate security to safeguard her
personal property against theft.
She says that either the hotel was negligent or its employees
might have stolen the ring.
But the hotel, represented by Mr K. Anparasan of KhattarWong, is
denying the claims. According to the defence statement which has
been filed, it is arguing that the loss was caused, or contributed
to, by the woman's own negligence.
It says she had not shown evidence that the ring was in her
possession at all times during her stay at the hotel. Neither has
she proven that she even brought the ring with her when she arrived
in Singapore last year.
The hotel's position is that its three employees never entered
the bedroom of Ms Bass' suite.
She had her massage in the living room, not the bedroom, as she
had claimed. And the butler who delivered her meal left the food in
the dining area of the living room.
The hotel acknowledges that it is liable to pay only up to $500,
the maximum provided for under the Innkeepers Act for a loss where
there is no theft or neglect.
A High Court pre-trial conference is due later this month.
ST 7/4/2010
