Singapore former PM's daughter-in-law guilty of improper handling of family will

The daughter-in-law of Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has been found guilty by a disciplinary tribunal here of grossly improper professional conduct in her handling of the last will of the late leader.

Lee Suet Fern, who is also the sister-in-law of Singapore's current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, handled the will relating to the property that has become a bitter cause of dispute in the Lee family.

Her actions were of sufficient gravity and the matter will be referred to the Court of Three Judges, the highest disciplinary body to deal with lawyers' misconduct, The Sunday Times reported.

If found guilty, Mrs Lee, 61, who is a prominent advocate and the wife of the late leader's younger son Lee Hsien Yang, could face a fine, suspension or could be disbarred as a lawyer.

The two-man tribunal appointed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon described Mrs Lee as a "deceitful witness, who tailored her evidence to portray herself as an innocent victim who had been maligned".

This was a "facade", the tribunal said.

"Before us, she lied or became evasive whenever she thought it was to her benefit to lie or evade," the Singaporean daily quoted the Tribunal as saying.

The tribunal in its 206-page report released last week noted that Mr Lee Hsien Yang's conduct was "equally deceitful".

"He tried to hide how he and his wife had misled his own father, Late Mr Lee, on the last will. He had no qualms about making up evidence as he went along. We found him to be cynical about telling the truth," the report said.

The matter centres on the role Mrs Lee played in the preparation and execution of Mr Lee's last will signed on Dec 17, 2013.

Mr Lee, architect of Singapore's development in Asian financial hub, died on March 23, 2015 at the age of 91.

The tribunal said the facts exposed an "unsavoury tale" of how the couple persuaded Mr Lee - then 90 and in poor health having been recently hospitalised for serious medical conditions - to sign a new will without his usual lawyer to advise him.

"They cut off that lawyer from communications with Mr Lee on the last will, and rushed through the execution of the last will, in her absence," the report said.

Mrs Lee took over as the lawyer to prepare the last will and advise Mr Lee.

She "misled Mr Lee on the terms of the last will", the tribunal said.

Mr Lee was persuaded to sign the last will in a matter of 16 hours and Mrs Lee had sent a draft of it to him at 7.08pm on Dec 16, 2013.

He signed it at 11.10 am the next day.

The last will differed from the one before it, and from some changes that Mr Lee had wanted and discussed with his lawyer - Ms Kwa Kim Li - four days earlier.

Mrs Lee, the tribunal said, "gave the briefest of advice to Mr Lee, and did not alert him to about all the differences between what the late leader earlier wanted and what the last will actually provided for".

The tribunal also noted the fact that Mrs Lee denied she was Mr Lee's lawyer and said she was helping as a family member and Mr Lee's daughter-in-law.

She also testified that she had followed her husband's instruction as she was an "obedient wife".

The saga can be traced to the public row that broke out in 2017 between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his siblings, Dr Lee Wei Ling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang, over the fate of their parents' home at 38 Oxley Road on the outskirt of Singapore's tourist belt of Orchard Road.

The final will include a clause on the demolition of the house, which was in early versions of the will but subsequently deleted.

It also reinstated equal shares of Mr Lee's estate to all three children.

The penultimate will had given daughter Dr Lee an extra share.

The last will also took out a gift-over clause, which provided for scenarios where any of Mr Lee's children pre-deceased him.

In January last year, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) made a complaint to the Law Society about possible professional misconduct by Mrs Lee, a lawyer of 37 years' standing, given that her husband was a beneficiary under the will.

The Law Society then applied to the Chief Justice to appoint a disciplinary tribunal to look further into the matter.

The tribunal, comprising Senior Counsel Sarjit Singh Gill and lawyer Leon Yee Kee Shian, found all charges against Mrs Lee "proven beyond reasonable doubt".