Thursday, July 9, 2009

Lawyer Struck Off Rolls

Source : The Straits Times, July 8, 2009

LAWYER David Tan Hock Boon, who was part of a group which swindled banks and the CPF Board by declaring inflated purchase prices, was struck off the rolls on Wednesday for gross professional misconduct.

Tan, 40, who was represented by lawyer Wong Siew Hoong at the Supreme Court hearing, was jailed five years last November for his part in the property scam. -- PHOTO: CRO

The Court of Three Judges, presided by Judge of Appeal Andrew Phang, took less than 10 minutes to make the ruling in the suit brought by the Law Society.

Tan, 40, who was represented by lawyer Wong Siew Hoong at the Supreme Court hearing, was jailed five years last November for his part in the property scam.

He had then pleaded guilty to being part of an elaborate housing scam that cheated banks out of almost $700,000 in just over a year. Tan was one of five people connected to the plot which also involved rogue fugitive-lawyer David Rasif.

Tan had conceived the scam in 2003 to swindle banks and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board by falsely declaring the purchase prices of properties.

His partners included property agent Goh Chong Liang and Rasif, who went missing in June 2006 with about $12 million of his clients' money.

Their plan saw Goh convince sellers and buyers of properties, mainly HDB flats, to declare inflated purchase prices. Armed with phoney documents such as CPF and employment records, they secured mortgages well above the value of the houses.

Three others involved in the scam, all non-lawyers have already been convicted and are behind bars for jail terms varying

between 12 and 65 months. Rasif remains on the run.

Tan, a father of two young children, stopped practising law in April 2006 on leaving Rasif's law firm and became a freelance business development manager.

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