Singapore court orders Bloomberg to pay $356,000 in ministers' defamation suit
Image: BBC News
A Singapore court has ordered Bloomberg and one of its reporters to pay S$460,000 ($356,000) to two ministers who sued for defamation over a 2024 article referencing their property transactions.
Ministers K Shanmugam and Tan See Leng sued Bloomberg and reporter Low De Wei over a piece titled "Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy". The article examined how some wealthy buyers used shell companies to obscure purchases of multimillion-dollar Good Class Bungalows.
The judge found that, read as a whole, the piece implied wrongdoing by the ministers because it also mentioned secrecy and money laundering. Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait said the outlet was "very disappointed" but would respect the ruling, insisting its reporting was accurate and served the public interest.
The article noted that Shanmugam had sold a bungalow for S$88m to an unnamed buyer via a trust, and that Tan had bought one for around S$27m through a non-caveated deal that makes ownership harder to track. The piece was taken down after Tuesday's verdict, as ordered by the court.
Separately, Singaporean authorities issued a "correction notice" under the anti-falsehoods law POFMA. Bloomberg complied but added that it stood by its reporting. Critics say such laws are often used to target criticism of the government, while Singapore's leaders say defamation suits protect their reputations.
Singapore's leaders have long won defamation cases against critics and foreign outlets. Past cases have seen the Far Eastern Economic Review, The Economist and the New York Times all ordered to pay damages.