Assignment title: Information
Don is an investor who makes frequent business trips to Singapore. In Singapore, he usually takes up a suite at the Ports Hotel. This upmarket hotel has a sign in all its rooms which reads: “The Management will not be responsible for valuables lost if these are not given to the front desk for safe-keeping.” On his last trip to Singapore, upon which he again stayed at the Ports Hotel, a burglar broke into Don’s room when he was out visiting business associates and stole his passport and his gold chain. Furious at the lack of security, Don intends to bring legal action against the hotel to claim damages for the loss of his passport and gold chain. Ports Hotel denies any responsibility believing that the sign in the room excuses them from any liability. A day later, Don was at the hotel’s business centre – an office that offers secretarial services to its guests – where he wanted to scan and send some files to this head office in the United States. A glass pane on a window in the business centre was loose and the staff there placed a masking tape across the glass pane and wrote the words “Do not open” on the tape. As it was a hot day, Don, ignoring the words on the masking tape across the glass pane, proceeded to open the window to let some fresh air in. The glass pane gave way and crashed on him, leaving him with a small cut on his forehead. Again, Don holds the hotel responsible for his injury. He contends that the hotel was grossly negligent in not ensuring the safety of its guests. Two days later, Don was approached by Tom Toh, the managing director of Toh’s Gems Company, with a business proposal. The proposal was that Toh’s Gems Company was going into mining operations in Vietnam, and that if Don were to invest in this undertaking, in other words, buy in as a shareholder, Don stood to reap handsome profits by the year’s end. Cautious, Don approached the auditors of Toh’s Gems Company to determine the financial health of the company. The auditors showed Don the audited accounts of Toh’s Gems Company which reflected a profit for the last two years. Based on these accounts, Don proceeded to invest $5 million in Toh’s Gems Company. Six months later, Toh’s Gems Company went into liquidation. It now appears that the audited accounts of Toh’s Gems Company were prepared in haste and reflected great inaccuracies which erroneously showed a profit when there had been substantial losses over the last two years. Advise Don on the following matters: University of Portsmouth1) Whether Don can hold the Ports Hotel for the loss of his passport and gold chain, and if the hotel has any possible defence. 2) If the Ports Hotel is entirely responsible for Don’s injuries sustained at the hotel’s business centre. 3) To assess the legal liability of those involved in Don’s $5million investment loss