Yahoo Finance Lee saga: Wei Ling, Hsien Yang request Disciplinary Tribunal against Kwa Kim Li over Lee Kuan Yew will
SINGAPORE — Dr Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang, trustees and executors of the late Lee Kuan Yew’s estate, have applied for an order against the Law Society to convene a Disciplinary Tribunal in relation to their father’s former lawyer Kwa Kim Li.
According to court documents obtained by Yahoo News Singapore, the two Lee siblings filed the application on 21 September last year and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for 6 October. Another in-chambers hearing took place on Monday (1 February) over the case.
Wei Ling and Hsien Yang are the younger siblings of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Kwa is a maternal cousin of the Lees.
The duo applied for the order under section 96(1) of the Legal Profession Act, and had sought for the Law Society to be directed to apply to the Chief Justice for the appointment of a Disciplinary Tribunal for a formal investigation into Kwa’s conduct.
This involves three complaints relating to Kwa that were made by the siblings, and which were investigated by an Inquiry Committee in 2019.
Kwa is managing partner of Lee and Lee, which was founded in 1955 by the late Lee. Between 20 August 2011 and 2 November 2012, she had prepared six of the late Lee’s wills.
Dr Lee had previously accused Kwa of “lying” about the latter’s supposed non-involvement in the events that led to her father’s 2013 will.
Under section 96(1) of the Legal Profession Act, a person may apply to a judge if he is dissatisfied with the decision of the LawSoc following his complaint. This is after the LawSoc has either decided that a formal investigation is not necessary or that there is insufficient cause for a formal investigation, but that the legal practitioner concerned should be given a warning, reprimanded or ordered to pay a penalty.
The two siblings are represented by lawyers Abraham Vergis and Aisyah Ahmad Arif from Providence Law, while LawSoc is represented by Lim Yun Heng and P Padman from KSCGP Juris LLP.
In response to Yahoo News Singapore‘s queries, the LawSoc and Vergis both declined to comment.
It is the latest twist in the long running Lee saga, which first erupted on 14 June 2017 when Wei Ling and Hsien Yang issued a joint statement of “no confidence” against PM Lee.
They claimed to have been threatened amid his pursuit of a personal agenda over their former family home at 38 Oxley Road and accused their brother of plotting to keep the house in order to build a political dynasty.
Additional reporting by Nicholas Yong
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