SINGAPORE: A lawyer found guilty of breaching legal profession rules by a tribunal last week is set to face disciplinary action by the Court of Three Judges.
Mr James Wan had failed to advise his client, Mdm Chiang Choy Peng, to seek independent legal advice in respect of her intended monetary gift to him, according to the disciplinary tribunal's report.
Under the Legal
Profession Rules, a lawyer or any member of his firm must not act for
the client if the client intends to make a significant gift by will.
The
Court of Three Judges, which is empowered to discipline lawyers, has
the power to suspend, fine or strike a lawyer off the rolls if found
guilty of serious misconduct.
The complaint by the
Attorney-General arose following a 2009 audit of the Bukit Batok Home
for the Aged where Mdm Chiang, a former patient at Woodbridge Hospital,
then resided.
The Auditor-General's Office discovered that Mdm
Chiang had received only S$500,000 from the sale proceeds of her
property in Siglap that was sold for S$960,000.
In 2001, Mdm
Chiang had engaged Mr Wan to retrieve her Deed of Conveyance and had, on
Mr Wan's advice, given him the Power of Attorney to sell her property.
The
disciplinary tribunal, comprising Mr Goh Joon Seng and Mr Tony Yeo,
found that Mdm Chiang was not aware of the S$1.1 million valuation of
the house when she drew up a letter to Mr Wan.
The letter stated
that she only needed S$500,000 from the sale proceeds and that Mr Wan
could keep any amount above that as a reward for helping her recover her
property.
The tribunal also found that Mr Wan had "manipulated"
Mdm Chiang into accepting only that amount and that she did not know
how much her property had been sold for in 2002.
Mr Wan was also ordered to pay S$10,000 for the cost of the disciplinary proceedings.
- TODAY