SINGAPORE — The hearing for the multimillion-dollar civil lawsuits brought against three Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament (MPs) over improper town council payments will start on Friday (Oct 5).

Former WP chief Low Thia Khiang and chairman Sylvia Lim will be among the first to take the stand, lawyers involved told TODAY after a pre-trial conference held on Monday.

Proceedings are expected to run until Nov 2.

The two lawsuits were initiated by an independent three-member panel acting on behalf of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) and the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) in July and September last year respectively. 

The six other defendants in the lawsuits include WP chief Pritam Singh, as well as three AHTC councillors: Mr Chua Zhi Hon, Mr Kenneth Foo Seck Guan and Ms How Weng Fan.

Being sued as well are the town council’s former managing agent FM Solutions and Services (FMSS) and its owner Danny Loh, who died in an accident in 2015.

Except for Loh — who will be represented by his wife, Ms How — all the other defendants are expected to testify in person.

In a public statement issued in July last year, Mr Low, Ms Lim and Mr Singh rejected allegations that they have acted in breach of their fiduciary duties as MPs. They said that they have “acted in good faith and in the best interests of the town council and our residents”.

Specifically, the WP MPs also rejected the allegation that they had set up a faulty system which allowed the appointment then of the town council's managing agent, and made it possible for FMSS and/or officers to benefit themselves.

They also denied that they entered into contracts with architects in breach of duties owed to AHTC.

On being asked to give an account of profits made from the appointment of FMSS or pay damages of at least S$1.25 million, Mr Low and Ms Lim responded that they have “not benefited a single cent”.

Ms Lim and Mr Singh have also been asked to pay damages of S$2.8 million for the wrongful appointment of architects.

The eight defendants were also asked to account for the S$33.7 million paid to FMSS and FM Solutions & Integrated Services (FMSI) as its service provider, and to make up for any improper payments.

The WP won the Punggol East single-member ward in a by-election in 2013, and brought it under the wings of the AHTC to form the Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC).

But AHPETC had to be re-constituted as AHTC after the WP lost the Punggol East seat in the 2015 General Election, with management of Punggol East returning to PRPTC.

The Government had, in 2014, directed the Auditor-General to audit the accounts of the AHPETC after independent auditors engaged by the town council issued a disclaimer of opinion — having flagged more than a dozen areas as issues of concern — on the town council’s financial statements for financial years 2011/2012 and 2012/2013.

AHTC’s lawsuit against the WP MPs and its town councillors had stated that it did not claim any losses attributable to PRPTC, but pleaded the full quantum for the purpose of the case.

PRPTC said it launched its own legal proceedings in order to “discharge its duty to its residents to recover what is due”.

The two town councils’ auditors from KPMG and PwC are also expected to take the stand in the course of the trial.

The WP MPs will be represented by Tan Rajah & Cheah, with lawyer Chelva Retnam Rajah as the lead counsel.

The independent AHTC panel is represented by a team from Shook Lin and Bok LLP, led by lawyer David Chan. PRPTC is separately represented by Drew & Napier, while FMSS is represented by Netto & Magin LLC.