Singapore Court Orders Bloomberg to Pay Damages in Ministers' Defamation Case

A Singapore court has ordered Bloomberg and one of its reporters to pay S$460,000 (approximately US$356,000) in damages to two government ministers who sued the news organization for defamation over an article discussing their property transactions, Koh Ewe reported for BBC News.

Bloomberg has been ordered to pay damages to two Singapore ministers following a defamation ruling. (Photo: K Shanmugan Sc Facebook)

The ministers, K. Shanmugam and Tan See Leng, filed the lawsuit after Bloomberg published a 2024 article that referenced their property purchases.

Bloomberg maintained that the article did not imply wrongdoing and that the ministers were cited only as examples within a broader report on high-value property transactions.

However, the court ruled that, when read in its entirety, the article implied misconduct because it also discussed secrecy and money laundering.

In a statement published by Bloomberg News, Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait said the organization was "very disappointed by this ruling but we will of course respect it."

He added: "We argued at trial that our reporting was accurate and served an important public interest, and we continue to believe that the ministers have imposed an extremely strained meaning on what was a solid story."