1995 Hotel Properties Limited apartment sales

At the direction of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) investigated the Lees' purchase of units at two HPL-developed condominiums, for which they had received over a million dollars in discounts.

[1][3] The SES noted that discounted property sales to directors and their relatives were subject to shareholder approval, yet HPL had taken up to 11 months to disclose transactions such as Lee Suan Yew's.

[2] Nevertheless, Lee Kuan Yew and his son acknowledged in a joint statement dated 23 April 1996 that "unsolicited discounts" ranging from 5 to 12 per cent had been applied to their purchase of units at the HPL-developed Nassim Jade and Scotts 28 condominiums.

[2] At a press conference on 20 May 1996, HPL's Thio Gim Hock revealed that Lee Kuan Yew's wife Kwa Geok Choo had been present at Nassim Jade's pre-launch on 13 April 1995.

[13] Since he could have refused to change his mind or negotiated for a lower price, Ong argued that the 12 per cent discount given to Lee Hsien Loong for his April 1995 purchase was "incidental".

"[14] In a 90-minute-long address to Parliament on 21 May 1996, Lee Kuan Yew defended his wife, who he claimed managed all of their finances, and described the transactions with HPL as "open and aboveboard".

"[22] Lee added that he had learnt of Nassim Jade and Scotts 28 from his mother and that neither he nor his wife, Ho Ching, had ever met with any of HPL's directors apart from his uncle, Suan Yew.

[22][23] After consulting a select group of ministers including Richard Hu, Teo Chee Hean, and Wong Kan Seng,[23] they decided to donate the discounts to charity instead.

In January 1997, High Court judge Lai Kew Chai ruled that worldwide assets belonging to Tang and his wife (valued at S$11.2 million) were to be frozen.