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Workers’ Party Court Case Update: They’re Found Liable for Damages (i.e. Lost the Case)

2019-10-11 , 1:00 pm

It’s almost a year and the Workers’ Party trio is back on the new again.

If you’ve forgotten, I don’t blame you.

After all, our memories are only supposed to last seven seconds.

Editor: Don’t anyhowly leh, it’s our ability to focus.

Whatever. But the point is, you’ve probably forgotten about the huge lawsuit against the Workers’ Party (WP) MPs that made waves in Singapore last year.

Or what they were even sued for.

Here’s everything about the case so far, including the verdict.

Workers’ Party MPs Sued Back in Oct 2018

Back in Oct 2017, Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council and an independent panel acting on behalf of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council initiated civil action against five councillors:

Mr Low Thia Khiang
Ms Sylvia Lim
Mr Pritam Singh,
Together with two other councillors

They accused the five of alleged improper payments to their own managing agent, FMSS, and other third parties.

And on Oct 2018, the AHTC Trial started.

AHTC Trial Simplified

There are a lot of days of trial to go through with plenty of debate (lawyers, right?). If you want to know the full story, you can check out Mothership’s microsite here.

But here’s a simplified version:

The five town councillors are accused of getting their supporters to set up a company, FM Solutions & Services (FMSS), to run the Town Council since 2011, and paying them large sums of money.

In other words, conflict of interests is an understatement.

On the other hand, the five councillors said that they’ve done this in the best interest of their zones and the residents.

They maintained that after they won and took over from the People’s Action Party (PAP), no other Managing Agents (companies that manage the town councils’ estates) are willing to take up the job in Aljunied.

This is based on Mr Low’s past experience at Hougang.

In other words, why try again and waste time when you got so many other things to do.

The entire trial consists of Mr Low’s side trying to prove that there wasn’t corruption and the town councils’ side trying to prove that there is.

Raised A Million Dollars In 3 Days

When Mr Low Thia Kiang, Mr Pritam Singh and Ms Sylvia Lim went to court, the most obvious question was on people’s minds: how are they going to pay for the legal fees?

Lawyers and court fees aren’t exactly cheap.

The Workers’ Party issued a notice informing people that their funds were not used to help the three councillors fight their court case.

So where did their money come from? Apparently, kind people who believed in them.

The three WP MPs appealed from donations from the public for help in raising funds for their case.

And within three days, they managed to raise $1,061,210 from 6,101 kind souls.

Which means on average, each person donated about $174.92.

After that amount was raised, they requested for people to stop donating as it was enough.

The judge, Justice Kannan Ramesh, closed the trial on 30 Oct 2018 after the last witness testimony was heard from and judgement was reserved.

Now, Fast Forward To Oct 2019

And a verdict was reached.

The three WP MPs were found liable for damages to the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC):

Mr Low and Ms Lim were judged as not acting in the best interests of their residents
Mr Singh was found to have breached his duty for assigning a contract to FMSS

In other words, they “lost” the case.

So What Happens Next?

For now, nothing. The WP MPs are still allowed to keep their positions and they can appeal against the verdict.

The next round of court hearing will determine the amount they’ll have to pay to both town councils for the “damage”.

Given they’re being sued for $33.7 million in improper payment, and the town councils are asking for compensation equivalent to the damage, it’s going to be hefty.

And if they aren’t able to pay up?

They’ll be declared bankrupt and have their MP positions taken away. In addition, if they’re undischarged bankrupts, they cannot be a candidate in the General Elections, too.

In other words, the three powerhouses of Workers’ Party might just be removed from the game totally.