Colin Ng & Partners Says Its Lawyer Absconded With $32,484

Source : The Business Times, 11 Sep 2007

A SINGAPORE law firm has reported the disappearance of one of its lawyers, along with a quantity of a client’s money. Unknown to his employer, legal assistant Victor Tan, had been made bankrupt last month.

Medium-sized law firm Colin Ng & Partners (CNP) yesterday said that legal assistant Victor Tan, who is not a partner, had apparently absconded with the sum of $32,484 which a foreign client had sent in relation to a property transaction.

‘Victor Tan did not deposit the cash into the firm’s clients’ account nor informed anyone in the firm that he had received the cash from the client. This is a violation of the firm’s policies and procedures,’ the law firm said in a statement to the press.

‘In this case, Victor Tan apparently arranged by himself to meet the client alone and did not inform anyone when he received the cash directly from the client. As the monies were never placed into the firm’s account nor made known to anyone else in the firm, the firm’s accounts department was unaware of the same and therefore not in the position to monitor the same,’ CNP said.

The firm said that it was only when the matter was made aware to the partners on Sept 3 that it was also discovered that Mr Tan, who is in his 40s, had been made a bankrupt on Aug 17. He joined the firm in March, 2005.

‘Upon learning of the above, the firm had also on the same day, consulted The Law Society of Singapore and on 4 September 2007, the firm made a police report. Police investigations are still pending.

‘The firm had also on 4 September 2007 terminated Victor Tan’s employment with the firm as the firm takes a strict and serious view against such misconduct on the part of its staff,’ CNP said.

The firm said that it has in place stringent systems and processes to safeguard monies placed in its clients’ account. These systems and processes are in line with the Legal Profession (Solicitor Accounts) Rules, Legal Profession (Deposit Interest) Rules and Legal Profession (Solicitors Trust Accounts) Rules and are strictly implemented and monitored, it said.

In this latest case of a disappearing lawyer, CNP’s client did not suffer any loss and her property matter has been completed.

In an earlier case, clients of lawyer David Rasif are now fighting it out in the courts to recover the $10 million or so that he disappeared with.

And last month, another lawyer, from the firm of Sim & Wong, allegedly left town with $68,000 from the account of a client at a previous firm.