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A former lawyer was sentenced to 36 months' jail on Mar. 28 for misappropriating S$113,923.79 from five clients more than 15 years ago.

David Khong Siak Meng, 55, fled to Shanghai on Aug. 18, 2007, when a couple he acted for as conveyancing lawyer in a property sale wanted to report him to the police if he did not return their S$88,000 he pocketed.

A warrant of arrest and an Interpol Red Notice was subsequently issued against him.

Chinese authorities deported him back to Singapore on Sep. 23, 2022.

He pleaded guilty to one count of criminal breach of trust, with two more charges taken into consideration.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Khong was a lawyer practising at David Khong & Associates — a sole proprietorship which he owned.

What happened in the case of the couple?

Used a cheque of S$88,000 to settle personal expenses and debts

According to the prosecution, Loo Yat Fung and Zhang Mengyun, husband and wife, had offered to sell a condominium unit to a buyer for S$2.2 million on May 17, 2007.

Khong acted as the couple's conveyancing lawyer.

On Jun. 11, 2007, the buyer handed Khong a cheque for S$88,000, representing 4 per cent of the unit's purchase price, to exercise the Option to Purchase.

Khong then deposited the cheque into his firm's office account instead of a client account.

A client account is a bank account that a law firm keeps for a customer to keep the customer's money separate from their own.

As the conveyancing lawyer acting for the seller, the accused was to hand this S$88,000 to Loo and Zhang upon completion of the sale on Aug. 14, 2007

However, without the couple's knowledge, he withdrew the entire sum between Jun. 11 to Jun. 25, which he used to settle personal expenses and debts.

Confessed to his client that he had misappropriated the money

On the day of the completion of the sale, Khong met Loo and confessed that he had misappropriated the money as he was experiencing personal problems.

Khong wrong a written confession and handed Loo S$20,000 in cash.

Khong asked for time to repay the remaining S$68,000, but Loo gave him until Aug. 18, 2007, to repay the remainder and said he would make a police report if Khong failed to do so.

When the deadline came around, Khong fled Singapore by booking a flight to Shanghai to avoid being arrested.

Convicted of overstaying and working illegally in Shanghai

On Apr. 6, 2022, the Singapore consulate in Shanghai was informed by the Jiangsu public security bureau that Khong had been convicted on Apr. 2, 2022, of overstaying and working illegally in Shanghai.

Court documents did not reveal what he was working as.

Due to the Covid-19 situation in Shanghai at the time, the bureau could not detain Khong but requested that the Singapore Consulate issue him a new passport so he could return to Singapore.

On Jun. 21, 2022, Khong went to the consulate to request a new passport.

His request was rejected as he could not produce documents indicating his legal stay in China.

The consulate then communicated its decision to the bureau, which arrested him.

Khong was deported back to Singapore on Sep. 23, 2022.

The prosecution further noted in its sentencing submissions that Khong still has yet to pay the remaining S$68,000 to the couple.

What about the other three clients?

Khong also appropriated a total of S$25,923.79 from three other clients.

However, these clients were unaware of the misappropriation, as Khong had managed to find money from other sources to repay the amounts before they found out.

For criminal breach of trust as an attorney, Khong could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined.

Top photo via Singapore Police Force