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Lee Hsien Loong’s brother pays nearly US$500,000 to Singapore ministers for defamation
Lee Hsien Yang paid the money to Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in the wake of a High Court order
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The estranged brother of former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has paid two senior ministers who sued him for defamation.
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Lee Hsien Yang paid a total of S$619,335.53 (US$481,034) to Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, according to a Facebook post on Sunday.
Lee wrote that the amount was “equivalent to 13.6 months” worth of rent for two houses on Ridout Road at the centre of a controversy last year.
The amount included damages, costs and disbursements related to a Singapore High Court order in May, he later told reporters.
The ministers had sued Lee last year, demanding he withdraw allegations made in a Facebook post for claims they received preferential treatment for renting colonial black-and-white state bungalows.
They also sought damages, which would be donated to charity.
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Additional reporting by SCMP Asia desk
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