On Tuesday (16 Dec), Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng announced plans to take legal action against Bloomberg over an article they claim is defamatory.
Bloomberg, an international media company specialising in business news, published an investigative article on Thursday (12 Dec) discussing “non-caveated” private property transactions in Singapore.
Source: Bloomberg
This included alleged property deals involving the two ministers.
The article first reported that Mr Tan had purchased a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) in an enclave called Brizay Park for S$27.3 million, though Bloomberg did not cite a source for this information.
It also claimed that Mr Shanmugam transferred ownership of a bungalow in Queen Astrid Park for S$88 million, referencing a report by The Online Citizen from September this year.
Bloomberg further alleged this purchase was “done on behalf of an entity called the Jasmine Villa Settlement” but noted they could not identify the ultimate beneficiary.
The article listed these two transactions under a section titled “Non-Caveated Deals”.
Both ministers rejected the claims, calling the article “libellous” and announcing via Facebook their intention to issue Letters of Demand to the media outlet.
“We will be taking similar action against others who have also published libellous statements about those transactions. We take a serious view of the allegations,” they wrote.
Source: 99.co, for illustration purposes only
Bloomberg’s article also discussed a rise in private property transactions that exclude legal filings known as property caveats.
It noted that at least S$1.1 billion worth of GCB deals were recorded from January to early December this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News and List Sotheby’s International Realty.
Nearly half of these purchases reportedly did not include property caveats.
In Singapore, a property caveat is a legal document that protects a buyer’s interest in a property.
It must be lodged with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) by an interested party.
Once filed, caveat details can be accessed through SLA’s Integrated Land Information Service for a fee of S$5.95.
However, lodging a caveat during a property purchase is not mandatory.
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Featured image adapted from K Shanmugam Sc and Tan See Leng on Facebook.
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