LAWYER Tan Cheng Yew who was extradited to Singapore in 2009 after being on the run for six years was jailed for nine years on Monday for criminal breach of trust and cheating.
District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim backdated the 43-year-old's sentence to Oct 22, 2009.
In convicting him of two charges of misappropriating $1.5 million and $1.94 million and cheating two sums involving $1.4 million, the judge said she did not accept the defence arguments.
Tan, a one-time debater of the National University of Singapore, had maintained in his defence that he misappropriated the money in his personal capacity and not as attorney to a Tan family.
But the prosecution's case is that he had committed the offences as the family's lawyer, and had abused the trust by converting large amounts of money to his own use.
Tan could have been jailed for up to 10 years for criminal breach of trust as an attorney, and up to seven years for cheating. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for Tan's two remaining charges of CBT and cheating involving about $934,000.
Case background:
The court heard that Tan, upon receipt of the $1.5 million cheque which was a loan to the Central Christian Church to buy a piece of land, deposited it into a fixed deposit account with DBSBank in 2001.
He subsequently used the amount as security for a personal loan.
Evidence was also led by the prosecution that Tan deceived Mr Tan Kwee Khoon, a member of the Tan family, into believing that it was a legal requirement in loan agreements for borrowers to repay the loan to the lenders commencing from the first year. He cheated Mr Tan of $480,000 and used it to settle his personal debts.
Tan had similarly used another $900,000 he deceived to settle his gambling debts.
District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim backdated the 43-year-old's sentence to Oct 22, 2009.
In convicting him of two charges of misappropriating $1.5 million and $1.94 million and cheating two sums involving $1.4 million, the judge said she did not accept the defence arguments.
Tan, a one-time debater of the National University of Singapore, had maintained in his defence that he misappropriated the money in his personal capacity and not as attorney to a Tan family.
But the prosecution's case is that he had committed the offences as the family's lawyer, and had abused the trust by converting large amounts of money to his own use.
Tan could have been jailed for up to 10 years for criminal breach of trust as an attorney, and up to seven years for cheating. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for Tan's two remaining charges of CBT and cheating involving about $934,000.
Case background:
The court heard that Tan, upon receipt of the $1.5 million cheque which was a loan to the Central Christian Church to buy a piece of land, deposited it into a fixed deposit account with DBSBank in 2001.
He subsequently used the amount as security for a personal loan.
Evidence was also led by the prosecution that Tan deceived Mr Tan Kwee Khoon, a member of the Tan family, into believing that it was a legal requirement in loan agreements for borrowers to repay the loan to the lenders commencing from the first year. He cheated Mr Tan of $480,000 and used it to settle his personal debts.
Tan had similarly used another $900,000 he deceived to settle his gambling debts.
