\n<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: <\/span>Trial dates have been set for the defamation suits that Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng filed against Bloomberg and one of its reporters, with hearings scheduled from Apr 7 to Apr 16, 2026, according to court records.<\/p>\n The <\/span>two ministers filed lawsuits<\/span> on Jan 6, 2025, against Bloomberg and reporter Low De Wei over a Dec 12, 2024, article titled “Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy\u201d, which focused on Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions in Singapore.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n Correction orders<\/span> 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.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the government\u2019s fact-checking website, Factually, Bloomberg\u2019s false statements \u201cattack the transparency of property transactions in Singapore\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Bloomberg subsequently published a correction notice but said it \u201crespectfully disagrees\u201d with the correction direction and stood by its reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n