Lawyer Lim Tean handed 2 more charges including criminal breach of trust, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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Lawyer Lim Tean handed 2 more charges including criminal breach of trust

This article is more than 12 months old

Lawyer and opposition politician Lim Tean, 57, was on Friday handed two more charges - one count each of refusing to answer a public servant's question and criminal breach of trust.

A search on the Ministry of Law's website reveals he is currently the sole proprietor of Carson Law Chambers.

He was earlier handed five charges for multiple offences in May.

They were for criminal breach of trust, unlawful stalking, and acting as an advocate or solicitor without a valid practising certificate.

He allegedly committed criminal breach of trust as a solicitor of the law firm between Nov 14 and Dec 4, 2019.

In an earlier statement, the police said Lim had been entrusted with $30,000, a sum which had been awarded to a former client as settlement in a motor injury civil suit.

Lim is said to have misappropriated the monies.

In an unrelated case, he allegedly stalked a former employee between April and May 2020 by repeatedly sending her flirtatious text messages, causing her distress.

Details about her job were not mentioned in court documents.

Lim is also accused of acting as an advocate or solicitor without a valid practising certificate on 66 separate occasions between April 1 and June 9 last year.

Among other things, he attended a court hearing on April 19 last year as the legal representative for The Online Citizen (TOC) editor Xu Yuanchen, better known as Terry Xu, in a case involving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

PM Lee had filed two defamation suits over an article published on the TOC website and separately sued Xu and Ms Rubaashini Shunmuganathan, the Malaysian author of the article.

Last September, the High Court awarded Mr Lee a total of $210,000 in damages.

The Singapore Courts website states that every solicitor who wishes to act in the capacity of an advocate and solicitor must apply for a practising certificate.

It added: "For every practice year, every solicitor must apply for a practising certificate before acting in the capacity of an advocate and solicitor.

"The term 'practice year' means the period from April 1 in any calendar year to March 31 in the next calendar year."

For unlawful stalking, an offender can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $5,000.

Offenders convicted of being an unauthorised person acting as an advocate or solicitor can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $25,000.

COURT & CRIMEcrime