Shanmugam, Tan See Leng defamation suits against Bloomberg to go to trial in April

Mr Shanmugam and Dr Tan said the article, which mentioned both of them, was defamatory. They argued it falsely suggested they had taken advantage of a lack of transparency in property transactions to conduct their dealings in a non-transparent manner, and to hide their transactions from scrutiny, including over the possibility of money laundering.

Correction orders under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) were also issued to several entities on Dec 23, 2024, including Bloomberg and other outlets that reproduced the article in whole or in part.

According to the government’s fact-checking website, Factually, Bloomberg’s false statements “attack the transparency of property transactions in Singapore”.

Bloomberg subsequently published a correction notice but said it “respectfully disagrees” with the correction direction and stood by its reporting.