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Opposition politician and lawyer Lim Tean has been arrested by the Police and is currently being investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department.
His arrest was announced by fellow lawyer M Ravi on Facebook on Oct. 2.
Ravi wrote that Lim was preparing for his case with Leong Sze Hian when the CAD officers "barged" into the office and arrested the latter.
According to Ravi, Lim protested that the arrest was "politically-motivated" when he was handcuffed. Ravi added that he has been instructed to act as Lim's counsel by the man himself.
Lim is representing Leong in the latter's defamation suit brought on by PM Lee.
PM Lee is scheduled to be cross-examined on the stand in High Court from Oct. 6 to 9.
Police rejects accusation politically-motivated investigation
In a statement, the Police confirmed that Lim was arrested for an alleged offence of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) under Section 409 of the Penal Code.
He is also being investigated for an alleged offence of Unlawful Stalking under Section 7(1) of the Protection from Harassment Act.
The Police also said that Lim refused to turn up for a compulsory interview on Sep. 28 at Police Cantonment Complex.
This is the Police's statement in full:
Mr Lim Tean was arrested on Oct. 2, 2020 for an alleged offence of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) under Section 409 of the Penal Code. He is also being investigated for an alleged offence of Unlawful Stalking under Section 7(1) of the Protection from Harassment Act.
In respect of the CBT offence, a Police report was lodged by the counsel of Mr Lim Tean’s former client (for whom Mr Lim Tean had acted in a motor injury suit). The former client alleged that Mr Lim Tean had misappropriated a sum of money awarded to him as damages by the court.
In respect of the Unlawful Stalking offence, a Police report was lodged by Mr Lim Tean’s former employee, who alleged that she was harassed by him when she was working at his law firm. The employee also referred the Police to text messages, that had been exchanged between her and Mr Lim Tean.
The Police contacted Mr Lim Tean and issued him with a written notice on Sep. 23, 2020 under Section 21(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, to attend a compulsory interview on Sep. 28, 2020, at the Police Cantonment Complex, to assist with investigations into the two alleged offences. He was also told that if he wanted, he can reschedule the interview to another date. However, Mr Lim Tean replied through his counsel on Sep. 27, 2020 that he had no intention of turning up for any Police interview. He also made baseless allegations that the investigations against him were politically motivated.
The Police have a responsibility to investigate reports which are made, if prima facie they disclose a basis for further investigations. Persons called for Police interviews must comply.
As Mr Lim Tean did not cooperate with the notice to attend an interview with Police, and had stated clearly that he had no intent to comply, the Police had no choice but to arrest Mr Lim Tean in order to conduct the investigations. This would not have been necessary, if he complied with the Police Notice to come for an interview.
The Police reject his allegations that the investigations are politically motivated. Mr Lim Tean’s alleged victims had filed Police reports alleging serious offences by him against them, and the Police have a duty to investigate the allegations.
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Top image credit: M Ravi/Facebook.