Dear valued customers, friends, and partners,
We are pleased to update you on the conclusion of our lawsuit with Ms. Vu Thi Mui, which began in March 2022. After two years of court proceedings, we are grateful to inform you that the honorable judge has ruled in favor of IBENMA, confirming that Ms. Vu’s malicious defamation against our company has been established. We have attached the final court judgment for your reference.
Ms Vu Thi Mui, housewife, permanent resident (Vietnamese-French dual nationality) with her husband Marcel Gilles Stephane Laurent (director, a well-known local wealth bank, French nationality), made a decision to buy a bunk bed from Ibenma as the temporary housing for a girl who was introduced from a teacher of Ms Vu’s daughter.
After the bunk bed was delivered on March 9, 2022, Ms. Vu was informed by her daughter’s teacher on March 23, 2022, that the girl had decided not to stay with Ms. Vu’s family. Given this change and considering that Ms. Vu only has one child, she determined that she no longer needed the bed. Subsequently, on March 29, 2022, approximately a week after Ms. Vu became aware that the girl would not be staying at her home, both Ms. Vu and her husband, Mr. Gilles Marcel, made allegations in their witness statements regarding the quality of IBENMA’s products and services. However, these allegations were deemed baseless and dismissed by the court.
In her pursuit of a refund, Ms. Vu took several actions within a short timeframe:
1. On the afternoon of March 29, 2022, Ms. Vu, accompanied by her friend Nguyen Thi Hoang Dung (a witness for Ms. Vu), visited the IBENMA’s showroom. There, Ms. Vu loudly criticized the quality of IBENMA’s products, accused the staff of fraudulent practices, and demanded a refund.
2. Shortly after, Ms. Vu posted numerous defamatory comments on IBENMA’s Facebook page, maligning the product quality and service and alleging that the staff had misled and slandered her.
3. Between April 22 and April 27, 2022, IBENMA’S Google reviews were flooded with over two hundred one-star ratings. Most of these reviewers had Vietnamese names and posted defamatory content. Evidence revealed that at least 14 of these one-star reviewers shared the same names as Ms. Vu’s Facebook friends.
After a three-day trial, the honorable judge concluded that Ms. Vu had defamed IBENMA with malice.
The judge concluded that there is a strong suspicion that Ms. Vu was behind the bombardment of ‘crazy group attack’ with more than two hundred one-star reviews on our Google business website. The judge remarked that the Google reviews may well have been orchestrated by Ms. Vu and that there was at least some basis to believe this.
However, as the claimant, we did not pursue further investigation into non-party involvement to find a ‘Smoking Gun.’ In the judge’s view, it remains the duty of the claimant to adduce evidence to establish that claim on a balance of probabilities. Apart from this, the judge is of the view that the remaining statements made by us, the claimant, were likely substantially true. As such, we should be held liable for the ‘crazy group attack’ allegation in our comments made on April 25 2022.
Interested please check here for google review bombardment happened on 22-27 April 2022.
PS: If anyone has information about who was behind the Google bombardment or suspects someone’s involvement between April 22-27, 2022, please kindly email us at service@ibenma.com.sg. We will offer SGD2,000 as a reward if the information provided is truthful. We will keep the provider’s identity confidential.
PS: Nếu ai có thông tin về ai đứng sau cuộc tấn công trên Google hoặc nghi ngờ về sự tham gia của ai đó trong khoảng thời gian từ ngày 22 đến 27 tháng 4 năm 2022, xin vui lòng gửi email cho chúng tôi tại service@ibenma.com.sg. Chúng tôi sẽ cung cấp một phần thưởng là SGD2,000 nếu thông tin được cung cấp là chân thật. Chúng tôi cam kết giữ bí mật danh tính của người cung cấp thông tin.