7 high-profile Singaporeans who have faced legal issues
Singapore has seen its fair share of shocking court trials, with ex-transport minister S. Iswaran’s legal case being one of the most recent.
From the City Harvest Church (CHC) scandal involving disgraced founder Kong Hee to Ken Lim’s sexual harassment charges, these cases have kept Singaporeans at the edge of their seats.
Here are seven high-profile Singaporeans who have battled legal issues, and what to know about their cases.
1. Ng Boon Gay: CNB chief who had an affair with sales executive
In 2012, former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) director, Ng Boon Gay was charged in court with four counts of obtaining sexual favours from Ms Cecilia Sue, who was a sales executive for Hitachi Data Systems and Oracle Corporation Singapore.
These sexual favours were believed to be in exchange for furthering the business interests of the two companies Ms Sue worked for.
At the time, Mr Ng was married to Madam Yap Yen Yen, who had stood by him during his trial.
Source: Yahoo!
During the 15-day trial that spanned four months, Mr Ng admitted to having a three-year extra-marital affair which started between late 2008 and early 2009.
He shared that he was in an intimate, but consensual, relationship with Ms Sue, who was also married at the time.
The court further heard that the pair engaged in oral sex “20 to 30 times” between 2009 and 2012 in various car parks across Singapore.
However, the pair only had sexual intercourse once in 2009.
During this time, Mr Ng had described himself as Ms Sue’s”boyfriend” — sharing that the two bonded over their shared problems.
They were physically intimate until Ms Sue became heavily pregnant, reported Today. They continued the relationship about a month after she gave birth in mid-2010.
In February 2013, Mr Ng was acquitted of his corruption charges due to the “existence of an intimate relationship” between him and Ms Sue.
Despite the acquittal, Mr Ng was retired from the public service sector by the Public Service Commission in 2014. The decision was reportedly made in “public interest”.
2. Kong Hee: The pastor who misused S$50 million of church funds
The trial for the CHC saga involving its founder Kong Hee and five other church leaders started in 2013.
The six individuals had misappropriated S$24 million through sham bond investments. They then spent a further S$26 million to hide the first embezzlement from auditors.
These funds were supposed to be designated for the CHC’s building development.
Out of the S$24 million finessed, a large portion — S$13M — went to Xtron Productions, the company that Kong’s wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun — more commonly known as “Sun Ho” — in her music career.
Source: @sun__ho on Instagram
The sum had financed Ms Ho’s planned American debut album.
The remaining S$11 million was invested in Firna, a glass-making company owned by an Indonesian businessman.
After a successful appeal to reduce their sentences, the six church leaders were handed jail terms between seven months and three-and-a-half years — with Kong being handed the longest jail term.
Source: The Star
The CHC founder was eventually released from prison on 22 Aug 2019, after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
CHC announced Kong’s release on its website, saying that he “spent most of his time [in prison] seeking and studying the things of God”.
3. Liew Mun Leong & family: Battle of the millionaire & the domestic helper
Ms Parti Liyani — a former domestic helper working in Singapore — made headlines back in 2020 after being acquitted of all charges in a legal battle with Changi Airport Group (CAG)’s former chairman, Mr Liew Mun Leong, and his family.
The Indonesian woman was employed under Mr Liew from March 2007 until October 2016 when her employment was suddenly terminated.
Source: The Independent
The legal feud started when Ms Parti threatened to lodge a report with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
During her employment, she had been tasked to clean the house and office of Mr Liew’s son, Karl.
This was against MOM guidelines stating that a domestic worker is only allowed to work at the employer’s residential address — in which case was Mr Liew Mun Leong’s.
Source: Berita Harian
Two days after she left, the family lodged a police report claiming that Ms Parti had stolen S$34,000 worth of their belongings.
These included 115 pieces of clothing, a luxury watch, two iPhones, and designer bags, among other items.
They had allegedly found these items in the boxes packed by Ms Parti, which she had left behind after being rushed to leave.
Mr Parti was arrested at Changi Airport on 2 Dec 2016 after returning to Singapore to seek employment. She was subsequently handed two years and two months’ jail.
Source: Berita Harian
However, Ms Parti appealed the decision, claiming that she was framed for the theft.
She said that the alleged stolen items were those that had been discarded. Furthermore, she had not packed some of those items at all.
In court, Karl gave inconsistent testimonies that made his credibility as a witness questionable.
The judge thus found that the Liews had pre-emptively terminated Ms Parti’s employment so that she had no time to go to MOM.
4. Lee Suet Fern: Mishandling of Lee Kuan Yew’s will
Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, Lee Suet Fern, was suspended from practising law for 15 months in 2020.
The verdict came after the Court of Three Judges — the highest discliplinary body for the legal profession — found her guilty of misconduct over her handling of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s will.
On 16 Dec 2013, she had asked the late Mr Lee to revert to his original 2011 will at her husband’s request.
Mrs Lee had also knowingly cut out Ms Kwa Kim Li — her father-in-law’s usual lawyer — and failed to explain the key differences between the last will with the sixth and penultimate will to him.
This includes the distribution of his estate among his three children as well as the demolition of his house at 38 Oxley Road.
The disciplinary tribunal found that she had misled Mr Lee Kuan Yew — who was “very frail and in poor health” — into signing the will.
She was said to have been oblivious to the interests of the late PM Lee and focused on what her husband wanted done — which was to get the will signed in an “unseemly rush”.
The Court of Three Judges said that her conduct was “wholly unacceptable and inexcusable”, considering her 30-year experience in practising law.
5. S. Iswaran: Accepting valuable gifts in an official capacity
On 3 Oct, S. Iswaran became the first cabinet minister to be sentenced in Singapore.
He was sentenced to 12 months’ jail after pleading guilty to a total of five charges pertaining to accepting valuable gifts in an official capacity and obstructing the course of justice.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
The former MP had obtained items with a total value of S$403,300 from two wealthy businessmen Ong Beng Seng and David Lum. The gifts include:
- Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix (GP) tickets between 2016 and 2019, and 2022 from Ong — valued at S$347,000
- A Singapore-Doha flight on a private plane, one night’s stay at Four Seasons Hotel Doha and a Doha-Singapore business class flight from Ong — valued at S$20,850
- 14 bottles of whiskey and wine from Lum — valued at S$3,256
- A Brompton T Line bicycle from Lum — valued at S$7,908
Additionally, he received one charge of obstructing the course of justice for making a payment of S$5,700 to Singapore GP. According to reports, Mr Iswaran knew that he was making payment for the Doha-Singapore flight by issuing the cheque to the GP.
Iswaran began serving his jail term on 7 Oct.
6. Ken Lim: Facing 7 charges relating to sexual harassment
Former Singapore idol judge, Ken Lim, is facing six charges of insulting a woman’s modesty against four victims and one count of molestation of another victim.
He was the executive director of record label Hype Records when he allegedly committed the offences.
Lim was first charged on 20 March 2024 with one count of molestation involving a 25-year-old woman. He was accused of touching her breasts on 23 Nov 2021 at the Hype Records office.
The other allegations against Lim involved incidents that purportedly happened more than a decade ago.
In 1998 and 1999, Lim allegedly played his first victim a porn video showing a woman engaging in sexual intercourse with multiple men.
Additionally, he reportedly told her that she was sexually inexperienced and he could help her with that.
Source: Malay Mail
Between 1999 and 2002, at Hype Records, he allegedly asked a second victim whether she was a virgin.
He questioned her ability to write deeper songs if she was sexually inexperienced. He also asked her if he could be her first sexual partner and how she pleasured herself sexually.
Lim then asked her to write out her sexual fantasies as homework and offered to be her sexual partner.
In 2013, at Hype Records again, he allegedly told a third victim if she could have sex for nothing, why not have sex for something.
He subsequently allegedly made the gesture of unbuckling his belt and removing his belt strap.
Most recently, a fifth alleged victim came forward and said that Lim had allegedly made unwarranted sexual remarks towards her in 2012.
“Are you a virgin… What if I have sex with you right now?” Lim had allegedly asked her.
Lim has since denied all seven charges made against him. The trial is still ongoing.
7. Pritam Singh: Facing charges of lying before parliament
Workers’ Party (WP) secretary-general Pritam Singh is facing two charges of lying before a parliamentary committee.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
The saga began when former WP member, Raeesah Khan, lied in parliament on 3 Aug 2021 about going to a police station with a rape victim.
Four days later, she admitted her lie to fellow party members, which included Singh.
Khan also claimed that Singh said, “this would probably be something that we would have to take to the grave”, in a separate meeting.
Additionally, Singh visited the former MP on 3 Oct 2021, a day before a parliament meeting, telling her that he is “not going to judge” her for continuing the narrative.
The day after, Ms Khan doubles down on the lie.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
On 1 Nov 2021, Ms Khan confessed in parliament that her rape victim anecdote was false and resigned later that month.
Following this, Mr Singh told her that “her character and behaviour were under review in view of her decision to stick to her lie.”
She was shocked by this, as he said he would “not judge” her for sticking to her lie.
Singh then gave an oral testimony that he wanted Khan to:
- Clarify, at some point, about her lie
- He wanted Ms Khan to clarify the lie on 3 Oct, if the issue was brought up
As these two answers were false, Mr Singh currently faces a fine of up to S$7,000, a jail term of up to three years, or both for each of his charges.
He may even lose his seat in the parliament if his fine exceeds S$10,000 or if he is jailed for at least a year.
The judge has fixed the verdict for 17 Feb 2025.
Also read:Â Commentary: Iswaran trial edges toward a tepid finale
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Featured image adapted from Tuoi Tre, YouTube, CHC and Reuters.Â
