SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has begun legal action against financial adviser Leong Sze Hian for defamation, after Mr Leong shared an article on his Facebook page that said PM Lee had helped to launder 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.
The article, which Mr Leong posted on Nov 7, stated that former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak had signed "secret deals" with PM Lee in exchange for Singapore banks' help in laundering money from the embattled sovereign wealth fund.
It was titled "Breaking News: Singapore Lee Hsien Loong becomes 1MDB's key investigation target - Najib signed several unfair..."
The article was published on Malaysian website The Coverage, and Singapore's High Commission in Malaysia had described it as "fake news and clearly libellous".
Mr Leong took down the post on or around Nov 10, by which time the public post had been shared at least 18 times.
However, he did not comply with a letter of demand sent by PM Lee's lawyers at Drew &Napier on Nov 12 to make a public apology and compensate Mr Lee for damages.
"Those allegations are false and baseless and constitute a very serious libel against our client, and disparage and impugn his character, credit and integrity," PM Lee's lawyers, led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, said in the letter.
They added that it was clear that Mr Leong had published the post "maliciously and to damage our client". Court documents obtained by The Straits Times said the offending words in the article, "meant and were understood to mean that the Plaintiff corruptly used his position as Prime Minister to help Mr Najib Razak launder 1MDB's billions".
As a separate and distinct libel, the offending words in Mr Leong's Facebook post "meant and were understood to mean that the Plaintiff was complicit in criminal activity relating to 1MDB".
Together, these words "are false and baseless and were calculated to disparage and impugn the Plaintiff in his office as the Prime Minister", PM Lee's lawyers said.
They also cited a list of articles and documents dating back to the first reports on the 1MDB saga in 2015, as well as after Najib had been charged with criminal offences, including money laundering, relating to 1MDB.
The offending article was originally published on States Times Review's blog on or around Nov 5, and removed on or around Nov 10. Mr Lee's lawyers also said the Prime Minister had been "gravely injured in his character and reputation, and has been brought into public scandal, odium and contempt".
In response to media queries, Ms Chang Li Lin, the press secretary to the Prime Minister, confirmed that Mr Lee had commenced legal proceedings against Mr Leong Sze Hian for defamation, and said that the matter is in the hands of Mr Lee's lawyers.
"Mr Lee reserves the right to take legal action against other parties who similarly defame him," she added. In 2014, Mr Lee sued Roy Ngerng for defamation after the blogger alleged that Mr Lee had misappropriated Central Provident Fund savings.
Mr Ngerng was subsequently ordered to pay Mr Lee $150,000 in damages.
