Judge's findings in Parti Liyani case involving CAG chairman warrant further investigations: AGC

FOLLOWING the acquittal of former domestic worker Parti Liyani of stealing from Changi Airport Group chairman and Surbana Jurong chairman Liew Mun Leong and his family, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said on Sunday that it will assess what further action should be taken in light of Justice Chan Seng Onn's findings.

The AGC noted that Justice Chan's findings raise questions that warrant further investigations. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is in consultation with the AGC with regard to the case, the ministry said on Sunday.

Justice Chan noted the existence of an improper motive by members of the Liew family for mounting the allegations against Ms Parti.

In arriving at his judgment, one of his findings was that there was reason to believe that the Liew family took the pre-emptive step to fire Ms Parti suddenly and without giving her sufficient time to pack, in the hope that it would deprive her of the time to make a complaint to MOM about her illegal deployment to work for Mr Liew's son Karl.

Justice Chan also found that when Ms Parti threatened to complain to MOM after her sudden termination, Mr Liew and his son tried to stop this by lodging a police report to prevent her return to Singapore. He also doubted the evidence of several members of the Liew family on various issues.

Ms Parti, who worked for Mr Liew and his family from 2007 to 2016, was sentenced to two years and two months' jail in March 2019 after being accused of stealing more than S$34,000 worth of items. She has since been cleared by the High Court following an appeal against her conviction and sentence.

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Her lawyer, Anil Balchandani, who acted pro bono, had argued that she was being framed to prevent her from lodging the complaint about illegal deployment.

In October 2017, Ms Liyani made a report of illegal deployment by her employer's wife Mrs Liew to the younger Mr Liew's residence between September and October 2016, and to his office around 2012 and 2013.

Following the conclusion of an investigation in May 2018, MOM issued a caution to Mrs Liew and an advisory to Mr Karl Liew, MOM said on Sunday.