Singapore Minister Calls 1MDB‑Linked “Fake News” “Absurd”
Ms’ K. Shanmugam, Singapore’s Minister of Law & Home Affairs, was quick to dismiss a scathing online article that linked Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to the infamous 1MDB money‑laundering scandal. “This is downright absurd,” he quipped to reporters, before launching a stern police probe into the author.
The Allegations (In a nutshell)
The controversial piece, posted on States Times Review on November 5, claimed that Malaysia had struck a series of unfair deals with Singapore, handing over Singapore banks’ assistance to smuggle 1MDB funds. The article also implied that the Singaporean government was complicit.
What MAS says
- MAS has filed a police report against the article’s author.
- It claims the claims are “false and malicious” and that they damage MAS’s reputation.
- MAS says it was the first jurisdiction to investigate the 1MDB scandal thoroughly.
- Over a two‑year review of both local and foreign banks, MAS shut down two institutions and slapped fines of about $29.1 million on eight others.
Minister Shanmugam’s Rebuttal
“If you raise accusations of corruption and money‑laundering against our Prime Minister and the whole Singaporean government, we will take this very seriously,” he emphasized at the Treasury building. He warned that the police will hold every party accountable, based on investigations and the Attorney‑General’s guidance.
Additional Tidbits
- A Malaysian site called The Coverage echoed the same narrative, mistakenly linking the article back to a newspaper called Straits Review.
- The coverage was later denounced as “fake news” by Singapore’s High Commission in Malaysia.
- Shanmugam noted Singapore is the only country among at least ten jurisdictions to secure convictions of individuals who helped launder that money.
- Investigations into other suspects are ongoing.
Shanmugam on Possible Foreign Involvement
When asked whether a foreign agency might have orchestrated the bogus headlines, the minister kept it simple: “Any suggestion of that would be purely speculative.”
Bottom Line
In short, Singapore’s top lawmaker has slammed the articles as baseless, slapped a police brief on the writer, and stressed that the country won’t let misinformation slip through its cracked walls—especially not when it involves the Prime Minister and a global money‑laundering mess.
