Under The Angsana Tree: The AHTC Lawsuits Against Workers’ Party MPs

Update 12 Oct 2019: AHTC case: AHTC case: Residents not surprised by verdict but many hope WP MPs will not be disqualified

Work at the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) continues in earnest, Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh said, even as he and his fellow Aljunied GRC MPs, Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Low Thia Khiang, study a judgment issued by the High Court on Friday (Oct 11).

"We are reviewing the judgment carefully and will take the advice of our lawyers before announcing our next step," Mr Singh said in a Facebook post on Friday evening.

In a 338-page judgment released on Friday afternoon, High Court judge Kannan Ramesh found the trio liable for damages suffered by AHTC.

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“We will stand with you!” – Widespread support for WP pours forth following AHTC judgment

Support for the Workers’ Party (WP) has been pouring forth even after the High Court found three WP Members of Parliament (MPs) liable for damages in the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) lawsuit

Between July 2011 to July 2015, AHTC had paid at least S$33.7 million to their town council managing agent FM Solutions & Services (FMSS), which was appointed without tender. Claiming that these were “improper” payments, an independent panel appointed by the town council initiated civil proceedings against Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh.

In his judgment released yesterday (11 Oct), High Court Judge Kannan Ramesh said that Mr Low and Ms Lim had breached their fiduciary duties to AHTC and that Mr Pritam breached his duties of skill and care to the town council.

The case is set to move on to a second set of hearings to determine the quantum of damages suffered by AHTC and how much is recoverable from the parliamentarians. The MPs can also appeal the High Court’s decision.

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What you need to know about the High Court judgment

Workers’ Party (WP) leaders have been found liable for the misuse of tens of millions in town council funds, the High Court ruled on Friday (Oct 11)

High Court judge Kannan Ramesh said that WP Members of Parliament Mr Low Thia Khiang and Ms Sylvia Lim were not only derelict in appointing a managing agent for Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) without calling for a tender, they had also painted a narrative that was "misleading and not honest" in order to do so.

"Their conduct was improper and the attempt to cloak the same with a veneer of truth and credibility collectively leads to the conclusion that they had not acted honestly and therefore breached their duty of unflinching loyalty to AHTC as fiduciaries," he said. The judgment for the first stage of the landmark case, which Justice Ramesh likened to a “hydra” for its complexity, was given in a 329-page document.

This following is a summary of key points raised in the judgment:

Who’s involved and what were their roles?
What were defendants accused of?
What were they found in breach of?
Appointment of FMSS as managing agent
"Political considerations"
“Improper payments” to FMSS and FMSI
What were they not found liable for?
What might they need to pay?

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Why is the Town Council suing its own chairman, Mr Singh?

AHTC is bringing on the lawsuits. The people behind the lawsuit are actually the three members of an independent panel appointed at the direction of HDB. Its members are:

Senior counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, son of J B Jeyaretnam & brother of Kenneth Jeyaretnam
Senior counsel N. Sreenivasan
KPMG managing partner Ong Pang Thye

How much are they being sued for?

Ms Lim and Mr Singh are being sued for S$2.8 million for the wrongful appointment of architects.
AHTC also wants the 3 MPs to account for $33 million spent between 2011 & 2015. The panel wants the MPs to repay any money wrongfully paid out.

What led to all of this? In case you haven’t been able to keep up with the back-and-forth, here’s a handy timeline of the saga.

2011:

WP snatches Aljunied GRC from PAP, kicking out 3 cabinet members.
WP hires FM Solutions & Services Pte Ltd (FMSS) as its Managing Agent for the newly-formed Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.
This is done without a tender. Ms Lim later explains that this is because “urgent taking over work was needed”.

2012:

WP calls its first tender for the management of AHTC. The tender is repeated in following years.

2014:

WP-run AHPETC submits its audited accounts for FY2012/2013 6 months late.
Then-Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam directs the Auditor-General’s Office to audit AHPETC’s accounts. The Town Council is given a red grade, suggesting it is the most-poorly run TC in Singapore.
PAP and WP engage in a war of words over the matter.

2015:

Ms Lim announces that WP will run its town council itself, after no one responded to the party’s 3-week tender for a managing agent. Read her open letter to residents here.

2016:

KMPG alleges “serious flaws” in AHTC’s governance. The auditor flags the TC’s relationship with former managing agent FMSS and essential maintenance service unit contractor FM Solutions and Integrated Services (FMSI).

2017:

AHTC appoints an independent panel to review the findings of the KPMG report. Commenting on the decision, Mr Singh said.

AHTC believes that it is in the interests of AHTC and its residents to appoint an independent panel to review the findings and take such action as deemed appropriate to safeguard AHTC’s interests. This independent panel eventually sues six AHTC staff, including Mr Low, Ms Lim and Mr Singh.

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In Good Faith

Contributions as of 27 OCT 2018, 10PM
Total Amount: $1,067,210
Total number: 6,101

Dear Friends

We are very touched by the incredible outpouring of support from the public for the appeal that we launched barely three days ago.

The amount raised has crossed a million dollars.

We are closing the appeal for now, as the amount raised substantially covers the legal fees required at this point in time.

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WP MPs receive $900,000, up from $470,000, in public donations to fund AHTC lawsuits

Workers’ Party town councillors Pritam Singh, Low Thia Khiang & Sylvia Lim at the Supreme Court on Oct 9, 2018. FOTO: ST FILE

The Workers' Party (WP) town councillors involved in multimillion-dollar lawsuits over alleged improper payments have raised about $900,000 to fund their legal fees, after launching an online crowdsourcing appeal on Wednesday.

As of 10pm on Friday (Oct 26), WP chairman Sylvia Lim, secretary-general Pritam Singh & former chief Low Thia Khiang collected a total of $907,918 from 5,241 donors, they said in an update on their blog In Good Faith.

The trio had collected $477,653 from 2,832 donors at 10pm on Thursday.

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PRP Town Council Won’t Say If They Paid Lawyer Davinder Singh

The Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) trial wrapped up last Tuesday (30 Oct) after 17 long days of accusations and refutations. The trial has not been easy on the wallets of Workers’ Party (WP) MPs Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh. The trio have been paying for legal fees with their own money. Last Saturday (3 Nov), the fees were estimated at a staggering $800,000. Fortunately for them, a great portion of the fees will probably be offset by generous public donations.

While much of the focus has been on the WP MPs’ expenses, little has been asked about the other side — particularly, how Senior Counsel Davinder Singh’s fees were being paid for. Mr Singh had represented Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC), which together with AHTC, sued the WP MPs for mishandling town council funds.

Recently, a resident from Pasir Ris-Punggol raised the matter. A Facebook post put up by the resident’s friend reveals that she had written an email to PRPTC on 22 Oct, asking if the town council’s money had been used to cover the legal cost of the trial.

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PRPTC Stubbornly Silent Despite Growing Public Calls to Account for Davinder’s Legal Fees

Concerns are mounting over how much Mr Singh is being paid to represent PRPTC, after AHTC town councillors revealed that they the bulk of the S$1.1 million raised through crowdfunding efforts has been to their lawyers. Pasir Ris residents are also concerned about how Mr Singh even came to represent PRPTC. This letter (pictured above), reportedly penned by a Pasir Ris resident to PRPTC, was shared on Saturday (3 Nov) and has since gone viral on Facebook. Said People’s Power Party member Augustine Lee, who shared the letter online:

“My friend wrote to her town council PRPTC to ask if any funds are used for the lawsuit as they have engaged one of the most expensive lawyer. They did not reply to her emails after 2 weeks. After repeating calling, they said on the phone that they will not reply when the court case is ongoing.”

The writer of the letter asked for an explanation from PRPTC regarding:

Can the TC choose to spend big amount on whatever non estate expenses depending on their own wishes without informing the residents?
Can the TC withhold information on big expenses from their residents?
Did the TC gather 3 quotations before deciding on which lawyer to choose?
Did the TC breach any TC rules and regulations?”

So far, there has been no public response from PRPTC, even as online calls grow louder for an explanation of how public monies have been used. Many wonder how PRPTC accounting for Mr Singh’s legal fees would be prejudicial to the ongoing AHTC court case.

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Public should be mindful of comments to avoid sub judice, say experts

The Workers' Party Members of Parliament, who run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, are facing trial to account for alleged wrongful payments made to the town council’s service providers & then-managing agent between 2011 and 2015

Amid keen public interest in the ongoing high profile trial involving 3 Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament (MPs), which has triggered partisan debate online due to the political dimension of the case, lawyers & legal experts have cautioned the public to exercise restraint when commenting on the trial.

This is because there are, at times, grey areas as to whether a statement might be prejudicial in nature, they said. Premature assertions about individuals could also amount to defamation if they turn out to be false, one of them pointed out.

A number of supporters of the opposition party & the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) have been posting online remarks on the case since the trial began on Oct 5.

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