Workers' Party MPs raise nearly $500,000 to fight town council lawsuits
Update: According to the WP MPs’ blog, the trio have raised $477,653 as of Thursday 10pm (25 October).
The three Workers’ Party (WP) Members of Parliament embroiled in lawsuits filed by two town councils have raised at least $65,000 less than a day after making a public appeal for financial help.
According to their blog, the trio of WP chairman Sylvia Lim, secretary-general Pritam Singh and former party chief Low Thia Khiang have received $65,196 as of 10pm on Wednesday night.
Appeal for financial help
In an earlier blog post, they made a plea for monetary contributions to help fight the cases brought against them by the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) and the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC).
Low, Lim and Singh – along with two other town councillors – have been accused by AHTC and PRPTC of breaching their fiduciary duties and making improper payments to their then managing agent between 15 July 2011 and 14 July 2015.
AHTC was formed after the WP won Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC in the 2011 GE. In the January 2013 by-election, the WP won Punggol East SMC and it joined AHTC, which became known as AHPETC. But WP lost Punggol East in the 2015 GE and it became part of PRPTC, while AHPETC reverted to AHTC.
Party funds not used for legal fees
The trio said in the same post that they had paid close to $600,000 in to their lawyers for work done before the start of the trial and that these costs have “depleted our personal resources”.
They also noted that they have not used any WP funds in their legal battle and that the total sum claimed against them is “potentially more than $30 million”.
“We will fight the claims vigorously. If we lose the suits and are adjudged to pay large sums of money, and are unable to pay, we would face bankruptcy,” they said in the post.
Related stories:
Workers’ Party MPs embroiled in civil suits appeal to public for funds
WP ex-chief Low Thia Khiang gave FMSS ‘a gun to put to AHTC’s head’: lawyer
WP ex-chief Low Thia Khiang testifies he didn’t spend AHTC residents’ monies improperly
WP town council case: It began a long time ago…
WP AHTC town councillors ‘acted in good faith, complied with the law’: lawyer for MPs
Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council files suit against AHTC town councillors
