Karl Liew, son of Changi Airport Group’s ex-chairman, admits lying to judge in Parti Liyani case

KARL Liew, the son of Changi Airport Group’s former chairman Liew Mun Leong, admitted to lying to a district judge in the case involving his family’s former maid, Parti Liyani, who was accused of stealing from his family.

The 45-year-old pleaded guilty on Thursday (Mar 30) to one charge of giving false information to a public servant.

The prosecution asked for a fine of S$5,000 and the case has been adjourned to Apr 14.

After a trial, Parti, an Indonesian, then 45, was initially convicted in 2019 of stealing S$34,000 worth of items from the Liews.

She was acquitted after the High Court overturned her conviction on appeal in 2020.

Parti began working for the Liew family in 2007. She was asked in March 2016 to do chores at Karl Liew’s home and clean his office at another location.

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She was unhappy at being made to do extra work for him.

The Liew family terminated her employment in October 2016 and she was given two hours to pack her belongings into three boxes.

Parti threatened to lodge a complaint with the Ministry of Manpower before returning to Indonesia.

She had asked Karl Liew to pay for the boxes to be shipped to her. The next day, the Liew family opened the boxes.

A police report was made claiming that some of the items she had packed in the boxes belonged to the Liew family.

Parti was arrested when she returned to Singapore in December 2016 and was charged with four counts of theft in August 2017.

She claimed trial to the charges, was convicted and sentenced to two years and two months’ jail in 2019.

Parti was acquitted after an appeal in 2020, in which the High Court ruled the original conviction was unsafe, highlighting the police’s handling of the evidence.

In February 2022 the media reported that two police officers who were involved in Parti’s case had neglected their duties and had fallen short of expectations.

Both officers were fined, and the penalties were calculated through the number of months of salary increments foregone, said Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam on Feb 14, 2022.

He was giving Parliament an update on the internal investigations of the case.

Shanmugam said both the investigation officer (IO) and his supervisor had neglected their duties, resulting in three lapses.

The first was that the IO did not visit the crime scene to promptly carry out investigations and gather evidence, contributing to a break in the chain of custody for some exhibits.

The second was the IO did not properly verify some of the claims made by the parties during the investigation.

The third lapse was the supervisor not providing sufficient guidance.

The minister said the officers had done their jobs under difficult circumstances, facing workload challenges due to a manpower shortage in the police force.

He said both officers faced penalties in the medium range. THE STRAITS TIMES