Senior lawyer took almost S$480,000 from clients, continued to act as lawyer after being struck off

SINGAPORE: A senior lawyer who was called to the bar in 1981 embezzled almost S$480,000 (US$358,300) from three clients and continued to act as a lawyer after being struck off the rolls.

Gurdaib Singh Pala Singh, 70, was sentenced to jail for three years and 11 months on Thursday (Jan 25).

He pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal breach of trust as an attorney and one count of acting as a lawyer without authorisation under the Legal Profession Act. Another charge was considered in sentencing.

The court heard that Singh was an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore between October 1981 and February 2018.

He was the registered owner of Gurdaib Cheong & Partners law firm and conducted his business as an attorney there between May 2009 and April 2017.

Between December 2011 and May 2012, Singh misappropriated the funds from a client who had engaged his firm to provide conveyancing services for the sale of his late father's flat.

The law firm received the sale proceeds of S$356,093.60 on the client's behalf from the buyer.

The firm was supposed to disburse the money only upon the client's instructions, but Singh used the money by issuing cheques to pay for other things unrelated to this client. These included the law firm's office expenses and other clients' transactions.

The client did not know that the funds had been fully used up. He asked to withdraw some money between 2012 and 2014, and Singh gave him a total of S$10,156 using other clients' money.

However, when the client asked for the remaining S$128,720 in June 2015, Singh was unable to hand it over.

Singh similarly used money from another client - a Singapore-incorporated company - to pay for unrelated expenses in 2014.

The company lodged a complaint with the Law Society of Singapore, and Singh was struck off the rolls on Feb 27, 2018.

He was also declared bankrupt on Apr 6, 2017 and he did not renew his practising certificate after this.

Singh has made restitution of S$58,000 to the company.

In September 2019, a man wanted to divorce his wife and was introduced to Singh.

Singh did not tell this man that he had already been struck off.

The man paid Singh S$1,750 for various requests Singh made, including to help the man respond to his wife's application for a personal protection order (PPO) against him.

Singh sent the man a draft sworn statement he had prepared for his use at a hearing to contest the PPO filed against him.

The man later demanded a full refund from Singh in January 2020 and said he no longer wanted Singh's services, as Singh had not provided any updates. The PPO was granted against the man.

Singh has returned the man S$1,000.

OFFENCES WERE FOR PERSONAL GAIN: DPP

Deputy Public Prosecutor Norman Yew sought 49 to 62 months' jail for Singh.

Mr Yew said the offences were committed for personal gain. As Singh owned the law firm, he directly benefitted from the use of his clients' money to pay for office expenses and other clients' matters.

Singh also continued to act as an advocate and solicitor despite knowing he was unfit to do so, said Mr Yew.

Singh was allowed to begin his jail term on Feb 15.

For criminal breach of trust as an attorney, he could have been jailed either for life, or for up to 20 years and fined.

For acting as a lawyer when he was unauthorised, he could have been jailed for up to six months and fined up to S$25,000.