The Attorney General, Lucien Wong, was not directly involved in the prosecution of the former domestic helper of Changi Airport Group Chairman Liew Mun Leong as it was “routinely handled” and did not involve him nor the Deputy Attorneys-General.
This was said by the Attorney-General’s Chamber (AGC) in a statement on Wednesday (9 September) in response to media queries over Mr Wong’s possible involvement in the case after the domestic worker, Parti Liyani, was acquitted of the four charges of theft brought against her for stealing S$34,000 worth of items from Mr Liew and his family.
The fifth charge against her for possessing several items which were “reasonably suspected of being fraudulently obtained” was subsequently withdrawn by the AGC.
The AGC said: “Neither AG Lucien Wong nor the Deputy Attorneys-General were involved in any prosecutorial decisions regarding the charges brought in PP v Parti Liyani. This case was among those routinely handled by AGC which did not require the involvement of the AG or the DAGs.”
In its statement, AGC further said that Mr Wong had recused himself from the ongoing review of the case on Saturday (5 September) for “personal reasons”, after the High Court judgment acquitting Ms Parti was released on Friday.
Instead, Deputy Attorney-General Hri Kumar Nair will be leading the review.
Following the High Court’s ruling to acquit Ms Parti , the AGC said in a statement on Saturday that it was studying the judgement on her successful appeal in order to assess possible further actions that ought to be taken.
Ms Parti’s former employer, Mr Liew, was the president and chief executive officer of CapitaLand while Mr Wong was on the board of directors. Mr Wong stepped down from the board in 2006, said the AGC and stressed: “AG Lucien Wong and Mr Liew did not have a personal relationship, and this continues today.”
Following the High Court’s ruling to acquit Ms Parti, the AGC said in a statement that it was studying the judgement on her successful appeal in order to assess possible further actions that ought to be taken.