Car rental firm RentLah sues former director and finance company over alleged ‘cashback’ scheme

RentLah and its group of companies are claiming that one of its former directors had worked with motor dealer Skyway and its director to inflate the prices of 95 cars it bought.

This was allegedly arranged so that RentLah and the group of companies would get a “cashback” from the higher instalments paid to Skyway.

Consequently, the companies claim that the hire-purchase agreements for the cars are void, and that they should recover the sums already paid to Skyway.

There are six car rental companies under the RentLah group involved in the lawsuit: RentLah Leasing, ReadyDrive Rental, RentNow Leasing, ReadyRide Rental, ReadyGo Leasing and RentCarsSG Leasing.

They are suing former director Ong Yong Soon, Jackie, who has acknowledged the fraudulent arrangement.

Ong’s statement, which was included in the court documents, said that he had negotiated and agreed directly with Skyway and its director on the purchase and financing arrangements for these vehicles, including making the cashback arrangements.

Although he does not have the complete record of every cashback payment, Ong said that the total cashback received by the group of car rental companies came up to approximately $1 million.

But Skyway has refuted the allegations.

RentLah and the other associated companies are suing Skyway Credit & Leasing, Sky Car Rental and Skyway Motor. These businesses deal in sales, financing and leasing.

They are also suing Kheh Thiam Hoo, who is a director in the three Skyway companies.

Skyway has posted a counterclaim of over $11.3 million, saying that RentLah has failed to pay its hire-purchase instalments on the cars bought, alongside accrued late payment interest and charges.

Based on court documents seen by The Straits Times, RentLah and the associated companies said they bought around 95 cars from Skyway between May 2024 and May 2025 through hire-purchase agreements with Skyway Credit & Financing, a financing company related to Skyway.

Some of the cars are registered to be used for private-hire drivers, based on checks by ST with the Land Transport Authority.

RentLah alleged that Ong had negotiated and entered into hire-purchase agreements for the 95 cars at prices that were “substantially in excess of the true and fair market value”. He was a director of the various RentLah companies until July 17, 2026.

According to court documents, Ong was the managing director solely responsible for the RentLah group’s financing arrangements.

He said he was making the statement acknowledging the cashback arrangement after he learnt that certain hire-purchase agreements had been subsequently assigned to a bank, which was something he did not know Skyway would be doing.

DBS Bank, which was the bank named in the document, said that it was aware of the court case. “However, as court proceedings are ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further,” a DBS spokesperson said in response to ST queries.

Refuting RentLah’s allegations, Skyway said its companies had sold to the RentLah group only 70 of the 95 vehicles involved, and that the other directors of RentLah were also aware of the hire-purchase agreements.

Skyway also said the prices indicated in the hire purchase agreements were not inflated.

Vehicle leasing businesses have been in the spotlight on the back of the high-profile collapse of Autobahn Rent A Car, a prominent operator with a 1,700-vehicle fleet, in January. It owed creditors in excess of $300 million.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

ADV: Navigate a decade of change in Privacy and Data Protection Law World Bank investment dispute centre opens first overseas office in Singapore