August 16, 2024
News
Characterist in the news: Defended ex-lawyer charged with criminal breach of trust
Characterist's Daniel Goh Choon Wah represented an ex-lawyer, David Khong Siak Meng, who had been charged with one count of criminal breach of trust.
Khong had acted for a couple in a conveyancing transaction, where he had deposited the buyer's cheque of $88,000, paid in exercise of the option to purchase, into his firm's office account instead of the firm's clients' account (which is specifically used for holding clients' monies). He then proceeded to withdraw the full sum of $88,000 within the same month to pay off personal expenses and debts.
On 15 August 2007, the day after the sale was scheduled to be completed, Khong met his client and confessed to misappropriating the monies due to "personal problems". He repaid his client $20,000 and asked for more time to repay the remaining $68,000. His client gave him till 18 August 2007 to do so, failing which, his client would make a police report. Khong was unable to do so and fled to China. Khong was eventually deported to Singapore on 23 September 2022.
Characterist's Daniel Goh Choon Wah sought leniency for Khong from the Court, stating that "He would not have been arrested and deported (if not) for his clear and deliberate act of surrendering with the knowledge that he would have to be deported to Singapore to face the music", and that "[h]e has matured in the long time away from home and should be afforded the opportunity to turn over a new leaf."
Khong was sentenced to 36 months of jail. For committing criminal breach of trust as a lawyer, he could have received a jail sentence of up to twenty years, and also be liable to be fined.
Read more at this Straits Times article.
Khong had acted for a couple in a conveyancing transaction, where he had deposited the buyer's cheque of $88,000, paid in exercise of the option to purchase, into his firm's office account instead of the firm's clients' account (which is specifically used for holding clients' monies). He then proceeded to withdraw the full sum of $88,000 within the same month to pay off personal expenses and debts.
On 15 August 2007, the day after the sale was scheduled to be completed, Khong met his client and confessed to misappropriating the monies due to "personal problems". He repaid his client $20,000 and asked for more time to repay the remaining $68,000. His client gave him till 18 August 2007 to do so, failing which, his client would make a police report. Khong was unable to do so and fled to China. Khong was eventually deported to Singapore on 23 September 2022.
Characterist's Daniel Goh Choon Wah sought leniency for Khong from the Court, stating that "He would not have been arrested and deported (if not) for his clear and deliberate act of surrendering with the knowledge that he would have to be deported to Singapore to face the music", and that "[h]e has matured in the long time away from home and should be afforded the opportunity to turn over a new leaf."
Khong was sentenced to 36 months of jail. For committing criminal breach of trust as a lawyer, he could have received a jail sentence of up to twenty years, and also be liable to be fined.
Read more at this Straits Times article.
