IN the first suspected case of a lawyer absconding with a client’s money

IN the first suspected case of a lawyer absconding with a client’s money to emerge since the rules surrounding such crimes were tightened last month, David Khong of Sim & Wong allegedly left town last weekend with $68,000 from the account of a client at a previous firm.

On July 15, rules came into force stipulating that two signatories are needed for cheques for amounts exceeding $30,000 to be drawn from clients’ accounts.

The rules, among other measures, were designed to prevent lawyers from mishandling clients’ money, and were actuated by an incident in June last year when lawyer David Rasif disappeared with over $10 million from clients’ accounts.

According to Peter Sim, a director of Sim & Wong, Mr Khong had closed his sole proprietorship, David Khong & Associates, and joined Sim & Wong only in June.

At his previous firm, Mr Khong had been working on a conveyancing transaction, and the work was transferred to Sim & Wong. However, the buyer’s 4 per cent deposit, worth about $88,000, was left in the old firm’s bank account, Mr Sim said.

When acting on behalf of a seller, a law firm typically holds the buyer’s deposit, which it releases to the seller after the transaction is complete.

Although David Khong & Associates had shut down, the firm’s bank account remained open. This was for administrative reasons, such as to pay ongoing bills, and is considered ‘normal procedure’, Mr Sim told BT.

Further, law firms usually place client money in fixed deposits, rather than current account, to earn higher interest. As the transaction was expected to close within weeks, the money was left at the old firm’s account, he said.

On Aug 20, Mr Khong sent an email message to Wendy Wong, a partner at Sim & Wong. In the email message, Mr Khong said he had absconded with $68,000 of the client’s money and left the country, according to Mr Sim.

The email message also mentioned miscellaneous debts, said Mr Sim. He said he had seen Mr Khong at work the previous Friday and noticed nothing untoward in his behaviour.

Sim & Wong has reported the matter to the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force, as well as the Law Society.

The police told BT yesterday that the report had been lodged, but said it was ‘inappropriate to comment on investigations’ and did not furnish further detail.

Meanwhile, ‘the Council of the Law Society has intervened on 21 August 2007 in the practice and client account of one David Khong Siak Meng as the Council has reason to suspect dishonesty in relation to a sum of about $68,000 on the part of this solicitor’, a spokesperson for the Law Society told BT.

‘The Council has appointed an investigative accountant to look into the matter. The Chief Justice has been informed of the matter. As the matter is currently under police investigation, the Law Society is unable to comment further,’ added the spokesperson, but said the society would issue a press release at a later date when appropriate.

‘We don’t know how or when he (Mr Khong) took out the money. Presumably he only needed one signature to do so,’ said Mr Sim.

Mr Khong’s confession came ‘out of the blue’, said Mr Sim.

Source : Business Times - 23 Aug 2007