Boon Tat Street murder victim sold 'everything he owned' to save business

The victim of the fatal Boon Tat Street stabbing managed to turn around a shipping business on the brink of bankruptcy during the 2007-2008 economic crisis.

Mr Spencer Tuppani, 38, who was the chief executive officer of TNS Ocean Lines, told August Man magazine in 2014 that he sold "practically everything he owned" to keep the company afloat.

It became profitable again in 18 months, and by 2014, its turnover had exceeded $100 million.

Mr Tuppani was a finalist of the Outstanding Entrepreneur Award at the SICCI-DBS Singapore Indian Entrepreneur Awards 2014.

TNS Ocean Lines was sold to logistics company GKE Corporation for $9 million last November.

The New Paper understands that the suspect arrested at the scene is Mr Tan Nam Seng, 69, who had identified himself as Mr Tuppani's father-in-law.

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He will be charged in court today with murder.

An Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority search shows that Mr Tuppani was a shareholder of TNS Group Holdings, with Mr Tan as director.

Mr Tuppani's wife, Madam Tan Cheng Cheng, 43, is also a shareholder. Their 13th wedding anniversary would have been next Monday.

Registry of Marriages records show Mr Tuppani had registered a previous marriage on Feb 18, 2000.

When TNP visited Mr Tuppani's four-storey Sennett Lane home in Upper East Coast yesterday, a domestic helper said it was a bad time for the family.

A neighbour, who declined to be named, said she would see Mr Tuppani, his wife, two daughters, aged six and 10, and a son, eight, and their two maids occasionally.

TRAUMATISED

The restaurant Mr Tuppani collapsed in front of, A Poke Theory, said on Facebook yesterday that their employees had been traumatised by the incident.

It said: "We are making arrangements for parts of the team who were witnesses to take some time off to recover from the incident."