Parti Liyani case: 2 police officers fined for negligence of duty after internal probe

SINGAPORE — Two police officers who handled former foreign domestic worker Parti Liyani's theft case have been fined after an internal investigation found that they had neglected their duties.

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam revealed this in Parliament on Monday (Feb 14) when Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, Member of Parliament for Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency, asked for an update on the police’s investigations into the case that had drawn nationwide attention in 2020.

The case surrounds Ms Parti, an Indonesian, and her former employer Liew Mun Leong, who used to be Changi Airport Group's chairman. 

Ms Parti was accused of stealing from Mr Liew’s family and was originally sentenced to 26 months’ jail, but was later acquitted by the High Court of all theft charges.

A remaining charge was later withdrawn, and she alleged that the prosecution had concealed facts and misled the court.

Mr Liew later stepped down from all his public roles and his son Karl Liew was charged with giving false evidence and information in the case.

On Monday, Mr Shanmugam said that the police investigation officer (IO) originally tasked to handle the case and his supervisor were found to have failed to take proper action to perform their required task.

When the police report against Ms Parti was filed, the IO had handled it as a routine theft case, but there were some lapses, Mr Shanmugam said.

He did not visit the crime scene promptly to investigate and gather evidence, which contributed to a break in the chain of custody for some exhibits, the police internal investigation found.

The IO also did not properly verify some of the claims made by the parties during the investigation. His supervisor, too, did not give sufficient guidance, which contributed to the lapses.

Mr Shanmugam said that a financial penalty “in the medium range” was imposed on both officers.

Asked by Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Sylvia Lim for details on the punishment, Mr Shanmugam said that the two police officers were handed fines based on a certain number of months' worth of salary increment they would have gotten.

Although they received punishments based on the same number of months, they were fined different amounts because the salary increment they would have gotten was different, he added.

Mr Shanmugam did not specify the exact amounts they were fined.

In response to TODAY's queries, the Ministry of Home Affairs declined to reveal the fines the two officers received.

"The public sector generally does not provide such details for reasons of confidentiality," it said. "The penalty imposed had been carefully considered and in line with public sector norms, and concurred by the Public Service Commission."

The penalties for their offence can range from a reprimand, or a financial penalty, to demotion and dismissal from service. The maximum financial penalty imposed under the Public Service Commission (Delegation of Disciplinary Functions) Direction is a fine equivalent to the stoppage of increment of two years. 

Mr Shanmugam said that the Police Internal Affairs Office that conducted the investigation into the two officers had taken into account the “intense pressure” under which the IO was working. 

“He was handling many ongoing investigations, prosecutions, conducting arrest operations, at the same time,” Mr Shanmugam said, adding that the only way to deal with this issue is to increase the police’s headcount.

“We have not solved that issue yet. It is a difficult problem, not easily solvable, given the general manpower shortage,” he said.

Mr Shanmugam added that the two officers had, up until the incident, performed their jobs dutifully. 

“I have sympathy for the situation that they find themselves in,” he said. “But they have fallen short of expectations. And they have been dealt with, in the way other officers would have been dealt with, in similar circumstances.”