SINGAPORE — Lawyer Lee Suet Fern has been found guilty by a Disciplinary Tribunal of grossly improper professional conduct in her handling of late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s final will, reported The Straits Times on Sunday (23 February).

The two-man tribunal appointed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, comprising Senior Counsel Sarjit Singh Gill and lawyer Leon Yee Kee Shian, found all charges against Suet Fern “proven beyond reasonable doubt”, in its 206-page report released last week.

It called Suet Fern – who is married to Lee Kuan Yew’s youngest child Lee Hsien Yang – a “deceitful witness, who tailored her evidence to portray herself as an innocent victim who had been maligned”. The tribunal added that the conduct of Hsien Yang, who testified as a witness, was “equally deceitful”.

"Mr Lee (Kuan Yew), who was very frail and in poor health, was misled by the very people whom he trusted: his son Lee Hsien Yang and daughter-in-law,” said the tribunal’s report on the case.

Suet Fern will now be referred to the Court of Three Judges, the highest disciplinary body that deals with lawyers' misconduct. The 61-year-old may face a fine, suspension or even be disbarred.

The tribunal’s finding is the latest chapter in the long-running dispute over the fate of the Lees’ former family home at 38 Oxley Road. The ongoing saga has seen Hsien Yang, his sister Wei Ling and their eldest brother Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, embroiled in a public row.

Disciplinary Tribunal report a ‘travesty’

In response to media queries, Suet Fern said, “I disagree with the Disciplinary Tribunal’s report and will fight this strongly when it is heard in open court.”

She added, “Any member of the public can obtain the entire record of the closed-door proceedings of the Tribunal from the Law Society. I urge the public to look at these and come to their own independent conclusions.”

Separately, in a Facebook post on Sunday, Lee Wei Ling decried the tribunal’s report as a “travesty”.

“This all is yet another attempt to rewrite history following on from the secret ministerial committee looking into Lee Kuan Yew’s Will and wishes for 38 Oxley Road. My father knew full well what he was doing. He was clear in his decision for the Will,” said Lee.

“I continue to be ashamed at Hsien Loong’s disrespect for his father’s dying wish.”

She added, “I am appalled and disgusted by the The Sunday Times reports that seek to character assassinate my brother and his wife.”

‘An unsavoury tale’

Last January, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) referred Suet Fern to the Law Society for her alleged role in preparing Lee Kuan Yew’s will. AGC said that this had placed her in a position of conflict and was a breach of the rules governing the conduct of lawyers because her husband was a beneficiary of the will, which was signed on 17 December 2013.

Two charges were then laid against her by the tribunal. First, as her father-in-law's retainer, she had failed to advance his interest, unaffected by her own interest and/or that of her husband. This was because she prepared and arranged for the execution of the will, which gave Hsien Yang a third of the estate.

Secondly, as retainer, Suet Fern breached rules by acting on the one-third share and failing to advise Lee to be independently advised on the "significant gift".

The couple have consistently denied that Suet Fern acted as the late Lee’s lawyer.

But the tribunal said it was “quite clear (Suet Fern) was represented to Mr Lee as the lawyer responsible for the last (and not first) will”. It concluded that the facts showed an “unsavoury tale” of how Hsien Yang and Suet Fern persuaded an ailing 90-year-old Lee to sign a new will without legal advice from his usual lawyer.

“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.

Contrary to her denials that she was acting as Lee’s lawyer, and that she was only helping as a family member, daughter-in-law and an “obedient wife”, Suet Fern took over as the lawyer to prepare the last will and advise Lee.

She “misled Mr Lee on the terms of the last will”, asserting that he was persuaded to sign the last will in a matter of 16 hours. A draft of it was sent to him at 7.08pm on 16 December, 2013. He signed it at 11.10am the next day.

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