Lee Suet Fern rejects tribunal's ruling against her

Lawyer Lee Suet Fern has hit back at a ruling by a tribunal that found her guilty of misconduct in the handling of late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's will.

"I disagree with the disciplinary tribunal's report and will fight this strongly when it is heard in open court," she said yesterday.

She added that any member of the public can get 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," she said.

Mrs Lee's comments were posted on the Facebook page of her husband, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, who is the late Mr Lee's son and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's younger brother.

She also said she was "deeply grateful" for her lawyers, former attorney-general Walter Woon, Senior Counsel Kenneth Tan, and Providence Law, for an "outstanding and impressive defence".

The Sunday Times reported yesterday that the disciplinary tribunal had found Mrs Lee, 61, guilty of grossly improper professional conduct in how she handled Mr Lee Kuan Yew's will. He died on March 23, 2015, at the age of 91.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang had declined to comment when contacted by ST on Saturday night.

Yesterday, his sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling, called the tribunal's report a "travesty", adding that it was an attempt to "rewrite history".

"My father knew full well what he was doing. He was clear in his decision for the will," she said in a Facebook post.

In January last year, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) complained to the Law Society about possible professional misconduct involving Mrs Lee Suet Fern.

A two-man tribunal, comprising Senior Counsel Sarjit Singh Gill and lawyer Leon Yee Kee Shian, was then appointed by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon.

Both the Law Society, which prosecuted the case, and Mrs Lee's lawyers then made their respective cases in front of this tribunal.

The AGC said that Mrs Lee appears to have prepared the last will of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and arranged for Mr Lee to execute it, even though her husband, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, is a beneficiary. It also noted that Mr Lee Hsien Yang had said that the last will was drafted by his father's usual lawyer Kwa Kim Li. She has denied it.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang has queried what is the public interest that is being served by the AGC pursuing the case. The AGC said it has a statutory duty to deal with misconduct by lawyers, and that rules for lawyers make clear that they should not place themselves in a position of conflict.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang and his sister Wei Ling have clashed with their older brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, over whether their late father's house at 38 Oxley Road should be preserved or demolished.

In January last year, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) complained to the Law Society about possible professional misconduct involving Mrs Lee. Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon then appointed a two-man tribunal, comprising Senior Counsel Sarjit Singh Gill and lawyer Leon Yee Kee Shian, to hear the case.

Both the Law Society, which prosecuted the case, and Mrs Lee's lawyers made their respective arguments.

The ensuing 206-page report from the tribunal described Mrs Lee as a "deceitful witness, who tailored her evidence to portray herself as an innocent victim who had been maligned".

Calling this a "facade", the tribunal said "she lied or became evasive whenever she thought it was to her benefit to lie or evade".

It also said Mr Lee Hsien Yang's conduct was "equally deceitful".

"He tried to hide how he and his wife had misled his own father, Mr Lee, on the last will. He had no qualms about making up evidence as he went along. We found him to be cynical about telling the truth."

The tribunal said the facts exposed an "unsavoury tale" of how the couple persuaded the late Mr Lee to sign a new will without his usual lawyer, Ms Kwa Kim Li, to advise him.

"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.

Mrs Lee took over as the lawyer to prepare the last will and "misled Mr Lee on the terms of the last will". The tribunal said Mr Lee was persuaded to sign the last will in a matter of 16 hours. Mrs Lee had sent a draft of it to him at 7.08pm on Dec 16, 2013. He signed it at 11.10am the next day.

The last will differed from the one before it, and from some changes that Mr Lee had wanted and discussed with Ms Kwa four days earlier.

Mrs Lee, the tribunal said, "gave the briefest of advice to Mr Lee, and did not alert Mr Lee to all the differences between what Mr Lee had earlier wanted and what the last will actually provided for".

In testifying, Mrs Lee denied she was Mr Lee's lawyer and said she was helping as a family member and Mr Lee's daughter-in-law.

She also said that she had followed her husband's instruction as she was an "obedient wife".

The matter will be referred to a Court of Three Judges, the highest disciplinary body to deal with lawyers' misconduct. If found guilty, Mrs Lee could be fined, suspended or disbarred as a lawyer.