Jeffrey Ong Su Aun, managing partner of JLC Advisors law firm, previously suspected of taking more than $33 million, has been arrested and is being charged of cheating.
Ong, a 41-year old Singaporean lawyer was caught in Malaysia and was taken back to Singapore on May 30. He was charged on June 1st in a Singapore district court.
The crime dated back to February 9th, when Ong deceived CCJ Investments into thinking that Suite Development had entered into a loan agreement with it. Along with this, Ong alleged caused CCJ Investments to disburse a sum of $6 million. Stated by court documents. About $3.3 million of that sum was used to refinance Suite Development’s mortgage loan and about $2.7 million was deposited into JLC Advisors’ client’s account.
According to ACRA, Suite Development is a real estate developer which was registered on Sept 16, 2010. But no information about CCJ Investments was found on the ACRA website.
More than $33 million was held in escrow by JLC Advisors for client Allied Technology and the money went missing last month. Shortly after this, Ong became uncontactable. Escrows are a vital service in capital markets that support transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. Due to this incident, the Law Society could consider implementing rules and guidelines regarding how escrow accounts operate.
On June 6th, Ong appeared in court unrepresented. Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Khoo told the court that the Commercial Affairs Department has since conducted two raids related to the case. Ong is now in remand and will be back in court on June 13.
The police released a statement which said that a report about the case was lodged on May 21. The statement added: “With the cooperation and assistance of the RMP, Jeffrey Ong was arrested and brought back to Singapore on May 30.”
As the case is not before the courts in the time of writing (June 7th), the police is unable to comment further. If convicted of cheating, Ong can be jailed for up to 10 years and subsequently fined.
