Ex-lawyer on trial

[Xiao Qiao]

Nov 16, 2010

CLIENTS SWINDLED OF $5.7 MILLION

Ex-lawyer on trial

Accused spent six years on the run before being caught in Germany

By Khushwant Singh

Former lawyer Tan Cheng Yew being taken to court in October last year. -- ST FILE PHOTO

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.

Read the full story in The Straits Times today.
[email protected]

 

[Zhang He]

Trial of lawyer who fled S'pore with S$5.7m begins


Trial of lawyer who fled S'pore with S$5.7m begins
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 15 November 2010 2136 hrs
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SINGAPORE: A trial involving 42-year-old Tan Cheng Yew, a lawyer who was on the run, began in a district court on Monday. Tan allegedly fled Singapore with some S$5.7 million belonging to his client.

Tan left the country in February 2003 but was caught by German police who arrested him in Munich in June last year.

He was sent back to Singapore on 22 October last year after Germany granted his extradition.

Tan currently faces six charges in all, four for criminal breach of trust and two for cheating. He is believed to have committed the offences between March 2001 and April 2003.

It is currently unknown how many witnesses defence will call. However, prosecution will be calling upon 21 witnesses and it will be proceeding on four charges.

All of them involve businessman, Tan Kwee Khoon and his family members.

Tan Kwee Khoon's family is believed to have entrusted Tan with more than 3.4 million dollars but the accused allegedly converted the monies for his own use.

It is believed he also cheated Mr Tan Khwee Khoon into handing over to him two cheques worth S$1.38 million.

In its opening address, the prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Siva Shanmugam said that in April 2001, the Tan family extended a loan of S$1.5 million to the Central Christian Church.

The money was to be used to purchase a piece of land and build a church building. Mr Tan then transferred the money to the church between May and June that year.

As the land had not been tendered for, the lawyer, Tan Cheng Yew, who was acting for the family, allegedly advised them to place the cash under the trust of his law firm and for a loan agreement to be signed.

It is believed another law firm acting for the church, Shanker, Nandwani and Partners then forwarded a cheque for S$1.5 million dated 28 July 2001 to Tan Cheng Yew for him to hold on trust.

However, the accused allegedly deposited the money into his own Fixed Deposit Account after this and pledged it to the bank as security for his personal loan facility.

Then in January 2002, it is believed he deceived Mr Tan into believing it was a legal requirement for debtors to repay the money they had borrowed from the first year of their loan.

However, prosecution said that Mr Tan did not want the church to start making repayments at such an early state. Instead, he was willing to make these repayments on the church's behalf.

It is believed the accused asked Mr Tan to issue him a cheque dated 5 February 2002 for S$480,000.

The accused then allegedly deposited the cheque into his own bank account on the Feb 6 2002.

The court heard that if Mr Tan had known that there were no such legal requirements, he would not have given the cheque to the accused.

The Tan family is also believed to have entrusted an additional S$1.9 million to the accused between March and June 2001.

The accused also allegedly duped Mr Tan into writing out a cheque for S$900,000 which was supposed to be invested with an Australian bank. Instead, it is believed the accused deposited the cheque into his own Fixed Deposit account.

Tan Cheng Yew, who has been in remand since his return to Singapore, is represented by Senior Counsel Michael Khoo.

The hearing, which is scheduled for nine days, continues on Tuesday.

-CNA/ac

 

[Oichi]

Ex-lawyer did nothing wrong


Nov 16, 2010

Ex-lawyer did nothing wrong

By Khushwant Singh

Former lawyer Tan Cheng Yew has been charged with six counts of cheating and criminal breach of trust. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

PART of the $5.7 million allegedly pocketed by former lawyer Tan Cheng Yew was actually for a member of a family that loaned $1.5 million to a church, his trial heard on Tuesday. His lawyer argued that everything was above board and his client did not deceive Mr Tan Kwee Khoon into parting with the $480,000.

Tan, a one-time debater at the National University of Singapore - who spent six years on the run from the authorities - has been charged with six counts of cheating and criminal breach of trust. Two charges have been stood down.

He is accused of tricking the Tan family, to whom he is not related, into believing that, under the law, the church had to start paying the money back immediately. Mr Tan Kwee Khoon was said to have given him a cheque for $480,000 to make it look as though the church had started its repayments, which Tan then allegedly pocketed.

But Senior Counsel Michael Khoo said the money was actually for Tan to pass to Mr Tan Kwee Khoon's younger brother Mr Vincent Tan Kwee Beng. He said it was being returned to the younger brother because he was not a member of the Central Christian Church, to which his family had loaned the money. The Tan family were completely aware of this arrangement, Mr Khoo said.

Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Hanzo Hattori]

Apr 18, 2011

Runaway lawyer gets 9 years for CBT, cheating

By Elena Chong

Tan Cheng Yew (above, in a October 22, 2009 file photo) was convicted of criminal breach of trust and cheating. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

LAWYER Tan Cheng Yew who was extradited to Singapore in 2009 after being on the run for six years was jailed for nine years on Monday for criminal breach of trust and cheating.

District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim backdated the 43-year-old's sentence to Oct 22, 2009.

In convicting him of two charges of misappropriating $1.5 million and $1.94 million and cheating two sums involving $1.4 million, the judge said she did not accept the defence arguments.

Tan, a one-time debater of the National University of Singapore, had maintained in his defence that he misappropriated the money in his personal capacity and not as attorney to a Tan family.

But the prosecution's case is that he had committed the offences as the family's lawyer, and had abused the trust by converting large amounts of money to his own use.

Tan could have been jailed for up to 10 years for criminal breach of trust as an attorney, and up to seven years for cheating. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for Tan's two remaining charges of CBT and cheating involving about $934,000.

Case background:

The court heard that Tan, upon receipt of the $1.5 million cheque which was a loan to the Central Christian Church to buy a piece of land, deposited it into a fixed deposit account with DBSBank in 2001.

He subsequently used the amount as security for a personal loan.

Evidence was also led by the prosecution that Tan deceived Mr Tan Kwee Khoon, a member of the Tan family, into believing that it was a legal requirement in loan agreements for borrowers to repay the loan to the lenders commencing from the first year. He cheated Mr Tan of $480,000 and used it to settle his personal debts.

Tan had similarly used another $900,000 he deceived to settle his gambling debts.

 

[Hanzo Hattori]

Apr 19, 2011

Tan's life on the run

In February 2003, Tan fled Singapore. He went first to Perth, and later that year he travelled to the US using a fake passport and an assumed name. He found work there as a legal counsel and flew regularly to Munich for work. He was arrested at Munich airport in June 2009.

IN FEBRUARY 2003, Tan Cheng Yew, then 34, fled to Perth, Western Australia.

He stayed in his family's house there as well as hotels, and sent a text message to his parents in Singapore to say he was all right.

Initially, he did not contact his family regularly as they 'didn't take what I had done... too well', he said in court earlier this year.

Later that year, he acquired a fake passport to travel to the United States under an assumed name.

He found employment in the US as legal counsel in multinational companies, and flew regularly to Munich, Germany, for similar work and meetings.

While in the US, he contacted his parents weekly.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.

 

[Captain Needa]

Apr 28, 2011

IN THE ST NEWSPAPER TODAY
Stiffer sentence sought for fugitive lawyer

Tan was jailed for nine years for pocketing clients' money and cheating. -- ST FILE PHOTO

BOTH the prosecution and defence are appealing in the case of lawyer Tan Cheng Yew, who was found guilty of four charges involving a total of $4.8 million.

The 43-year-old Malaysian, who had been on the run for six years until his extradition from Germany in 2009, was sentenced to nine years' jail last week.

The prosecution filed a notice of appeal against the sentence on Tuesday while the defence lodged one yesterday against conviction.

The prosecution wants a heavier sentence.

Tan's lawyer, Senior Counsel Michael Khoo, told The Straits Times he had been instructed by his client to appeal on points of law.

The Singapore permanent resident and one-time debater at the National University of Singapore was practising as a partner at Tan Cheng Yew & Partners and Tan Jin Hwee, Eunice & Lim Choo Eng at the time of the offences.

ELENA CHONG

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times

 

[Millennium Falcon]

Longer jail term for lawyer who misappropriated clients' money

By Claire Huang | Posted: 30 November 2012 1453 hrs

SINGAPORE: The High Court has imposed a longer imprisonment term for disgraced lawyer Tan Cheng Yew, who misappropriated S$4.82 million of his clients' money.

Tan now has to serve 12 years' jail instead of the original nine.

Tan was on the run for six years after he misappropriated the money.

He was arrested in Munich, Germany, in 2009 and extradited to Singapore.

The public prosecutor told Justice Lee Seiu Kin that the highest sentence was six years, where a lawyer absconded with close to S$2 million.

DPP Tan Ken Hwee said in Tan Cheng Yew's case, the sentence of nine years' jail "was manifestly inadequate".

In making his judgement, Justice Lee said as an advocate of law, a lawyer is granted exclusive rights and trust.

He said the court will not hesitate to impose a strong sentence in this case.

- CNA/xq