THREE firms have sued upmarket homegrown furniture store Da Vinci and its managing director Raymond Phua for allegedly carrying out a 'bait and switch' scam.

The companies, set up in Australia, Singapore and Indonesia, had signed franchise agreements for a shoe business called Walking Culture with another of Mr Phua's firms, Tradewind.

Tradewind later went bust and was wound up in 2006 over a $60,000 debt.

The three companies now claim that Mr Phua had misled them into thinking that they were signing an agreement with the Da Vinci group, a retailer of high-end furniture and jewellery.

Mr Phua is the eldest son of Mr Tony Phua, the founder and chairman of Da Vinci Holdings and its holding company, Phua Holdings.

The three companies - Mentormophosis from Australia, Singapore company DNV Image and PT Patria Nusantara Perkasa of Indonesia - have sued for an unspecified sum, alleging misrepresentation. Ms Dian Patriani, a director of the Indonesian firm, is the fourth plaintiff.

The four parties are seeking a refund of their franchise fees, and compensation for goods that they paid for but were not delivered, and the cost of renting and renovating their shops.

Opening their case yesterday, their lawyers, Mr Adrian Tan and Mr Wendell Wong, accused Mr Phua of running a scam, using Da Vinci's reputation to woo potential investors.

'It was his modus operandi to use Da Vinci as a bait in order to trick people to invest in an unrelated company,' said their opening statement. 'The unrelated company, Tradewind, could then fold without repercussions to Da Vinci.'

The people who run the companies initially did not know one another and had met Mr Phua on separate occasions.

Between June 2004 and February 2005, they signed franchise agreements with Tradewind, a company solely owned by Mr Phua, to operate retail outlets selling footwear.

He allegedly told them that he was the managing director of Da Vinci, a successful company with a global presence, to convince them to be franchisees of Walking Culture.

Mr Phua allegedly told them that Tradewind was the Da Vinci vehicle used for the franchise.

The plaintiffs claim that after signing the agreements, they did not get the support and help that Mr Phua promised.

Mr Phua, represented by Mr Fan Kin Ning, denies making such representations. He also rejects allegations of fraud - he contends he had every reason to believe Walking Culture would be a success, but the business failed due to economic reasons.

Da Vinci, represented by Senior Counsel Molly Lim, said it had no knowledge of anything that happened relating to Walking Culture, Tradewind and the plaintiffs. Da Vinci said it was only when it was sued in July last year that it became aware that the plaintiffs regarded it as being involved in the business.

SELINA LUM

This article was first published in The Straits Times.