Bloomberg defamation case: Shanmugam, Tan See Leng awarded S$145,000 each in legal costs

Bloomberg defamation case: Shanmugam, Tan See Leng awarded S$145,000 each in legal costs Earlier this month, Bloomberg and its reporter, Mr Low De Wei, were ordered to pay damages of S$230,000 to each minister for defamation. SINGAPORE: Senior Minister K Shanmugam and Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry) Tan See Leng have each been awarded S$145,000 (US$112,000) in legal costs following their successful defamation suit against Bloomberg and its journalist. A court earlier this month ruled that a December 2024 Bloomberg article on Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions had defamed the ministers. Bloomberg and its reporter, Mr Low De Wei, were ordered to pay S$230,000 in damages to each minister. Details of the costs were shared with the media in an extract of the notes of proceedings. The breakdown showed that each minister was awarded S$50,000 for pre-trial work, S$65,000 for the trial and S$30,000 for post-trial work. DEFAMATION SUIT The Bloomberg article opened with a line: "Singapore's ultra-rich are increasingly cloaking their purchases of mansions in the city-state in secrecy." After referencing a S$3 billion money laundering scandal and how criminals linked to the case were convicted, jailed and deported, the article said buyers of high-end homes would rather keep their purchases under the radar. The article then named Dr Tan and Mr Shanmugam and referred to their respective GCB transactions. Bloomberg and Mr Low had contested the claims, saying the article was about broader trends in Singapore's GCB market rather than about the ministers personally, or any wrongdoing on their part. However, the judge rejected this argument, saying that the article - when read as a whole - linked the ministers' transactions with claims about secrecy, opacity and money laundering, creating a defamatory impression. She also rejected Bloomberg's reliance on a public interest defence known as the Reynolds defence in UK law, saying it is not part of Singapore law. Bloomberg declined to comment when contacted about the court's order on legal costs.