S'pore judge issues warrant for self-exiled politician
S'pore judge issues warrant for self-exiled politician
SINGAPORE (AFP): A Singapore judge issued an arrest warrant yesterday for self-exiled opposition politician Tang Liang Hong, after he failed to turn up in court to answer 33 charges of tax evasion.
Tang, a member of the Workers' Party who fled to Malaysia and was last known to be in Hong Kong, was accused by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) of failing to pay S$210,982.56 (US$150,700) in taxes.
Bail was set at S$5,000 dollars per charge or S$165,000 for all 33 counts of alleged tax evasion.
A millionaire lawyer, Tang is also facing defamation suits filed by top Singapore leaders, who are seeking a record 12.9 million dollars in damages for statements he made in the campaign for last January's general election.
The warrant, the first issued against Tang since his troubles began, was issued by District Judge Brenda Tan on an application by a legal officer of IRAS, Andy Wong, who said it would be up to the Singapore police to carry out the arrest order.
"As Mr. Tang's presence is required, I'm issuing a warrant of arrest," Tan told the court.
Tang, 61, fled Singapore citing death threats after losing by a slim margin in the January elections. He is believed to be based in the southern Malaysian city of Johore Bahru, linked by a causeway to Singapore.
Tang's counsel, Workers' Party chief J. B. Jeyaretnam, told the judge Tang was not served any summonses personally by the IRAS and the alleged offenses were fiscal and not criminal in nature.
He said the tax officers knew Tang could be contacted through his lawyer in Johore Bahru but did not make an attempt to do so.
"Let's try to be reasonable, let's not go overboard," Jeyaretnam said, adding the tax authorities should first give Tang a chance to answer whatever tax queries they had.
Tang had said in a statement faxed here from Hong Kong Wednesday that IRAS officials had attempted to serve the summonses for him to appear in court at his home in Singapore.
"This development come as no surprise to me, because this is not the first time that the Singapore government has used the Inland Revenue Department against their political opponents," Tang charged in the statement.
In late January, the IRAS seized tax documents from Tang's home and office in two early morning raids. It had said the raids were conducted to prevent relevant documents from being destroyed or tampered with.