THE trial of a former lawyer accused of cheating three clients out of more than $5.7 million before going on the run opened yesterday.
Tan Cheng Yew, 42, was portrayed by the prosecution as a smooth talker who convinced clients to entrust him with their money - only to disappear.
He spent six years on the run before he was caught in Germany last year.
The one-time debater at the National University of Singapore has been charged with six counts of cheating and criminal breach of trust. About $4.8 million of the money he is accused of taking belonged to the family of Mr Tan Kwee Khoon.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Siva Shanmugam said that in December 2000, Mr Tan Kwee Khoon asked his lawyer, Tan, to sell 24 million shares in Poh Lian Holdings, a construction firm founded by his father.
Tan sold nine million shares for $1.94 million and told his client the money would be invested in a fixed deposit account in an Australian bank. In fact, this account did not exist and Tan had deposited the money into his personal accounts, the court heard.
