OCBC Bank has hit back at a former client, saying that his defence and counterclaim in a legal spat are designed to 'scandalise and embarrass' the bank.

Businessman and investor Anthony Soh is being sued by OCBC, which previously acted as his financial adviser during his aborted takeover of Jade Technologies last year.

The bank has claimed that he was not 'genuine' about making an offer. OCBC, which said Dr Soh had enough resources to make the offer, alleges that Dr Soh was behind a fake letter which it relied on to give its confirmation.

Dr Soh has filed his defence, denying OCBC's claims.

He also put in a counterclaim against the bank, saying that he had suffered losses as a result of OCBC Securities' sale of 101 million Jade shares on the open market.

The sale came before investors were aware of the problems about Dr Soh's stake and before a plunge in the value of Jade's shares.

OCBC last Friday filed a legal reply to Dr Soh's claims, saying his complaint about the Jade shares 'is meant to scandalise and embarrass OCBC rather than to introduce any fair or relevant pleading to assist in a fair trial of this action'.

The bank maintains that the letter was fraudulent.

Dr Soh claims that OCBC did not do its job in advising him, but OCBC says that the failure of the takeover offer was due to the businessman not having enough funds.

The bank contends that Dr Soh did not disclose that part of his stake was pledged to an Australian broker, which meant that the real level of what he held in his name was much lower.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on January 12, 2009.