Singapore's High Court has ordered Bloomberg News and reporter Low De Wei to pay S$460,000 in damages to ministers K Shanmugam and Tan See Leng over a December 2024 article on luxury property transactions that the judge found carried defamatory implications.
Judge Audrey Lim ruled that the piece, titled "Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy," implied the ministers had exploited regulations to conduct property deals in a non-transparent manner to evade scrutiny over possible money laundering. Lim found that reporter Low De Wei was reckless and inaccurate in describing the opacity of government records for certain bungalow transactions, and that Bloomberg's removal of its paywall after receiving a government correction order demonstrated malice. The outlet was also directed to publish a correction notice under Singapore's anti-fake news law.
Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait expressed disappointment with the verdict but did not indicate whether the publication would appeal.