Lim Tean posted a video on Facebook on Wednesday (May 11) afternoon, citing that the Law Society had withdrawn its charge against him after the complainant had failed to turn up at the tribunal.
“They did not make statement, but they officially withdrew the charge before the Disciplinary Tribunal. I was there and witnessed and heard it”, he said in a quote to TISG.
While there is no official statement by the Law Society on this, Lim said that Suresh Kumar, the man from whom Lim Tean is alleged to have misappropriated $30,000, did not appear in court. Lim also said that when the Disciplinary Tribunal was set up, Suresh kept “delaying it on the grounds of poor health, but finally, the disciplinary tribunal was convened today”.
Sometime in November 2019, Lim Tean was entrusted with a sum of $30,000, awarded to a former client as a settlement in respect of a motor injury civil suit. Because of the complainant’s failure to turn up, Lim said that the Law Society had withdrawn its charge of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) against him.
In his video, Lim alluded to there being political motivations for the charges against him. “Honestly, there was no basis for that (the disciplinary tribunal). But you know, as an opposition politician, I have to be prepared for that right, in Singapore?”
Lim said that the “prosecutorial authority” should have known “in their investigations how unreliable this witness (Suresh Kumar) is. But no, the intent is to make a spectacle, is to smear Lim Tean”, he said.
In 2020, Lim was arrested for alleged criminal breach of trust, days before he was set to defend a client in a defamation case against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Police said Lim Tean, who leads the People’s Voice Party that unsuccessfully contested the last General Election, was also being investigated for stalking and had not complied with earlier notices to attend police interviews.
“The police had no choice but to arrest Mr Lim Tean in order to conduct the investigations,” police said in a statement then, adding that they rejected allegations by Lim that the arrest was politically motivated.
In a statement by Human Rights Lawyer M Ravi, he said: “I just saw the video by Tean Lim that the Law Society had withdrawn it’s charges today against him on the issue of client’s monies. Why is the police so anxious to charge him tomorrow when the law society was conducting its inquiry. Worst of all , his charges have been withdrawn by the Law Society today”.
Mr Ravi added that: “This also offends the principle of double jeopardy protected under Article 11 of the constitution. The case against Team is now irreversibly prejudiced. The police must withdraw the charge against him. The law society’s dismissal of charges against Lim Team today only amplifies his allegation of political persecution”.
Lim Tean is to be charged in court on 12 May 2022. /TISG