Look at me for fxxx? *hee*hee*
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Fix problem of runaway lawyers
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I WAS shocked to read the report that 60 per cent of the top 10 prolific corporate fugitives were high-flying lawyers on the run ('On the run'', Aug 21).
If we looked at the figures misappropriated, the six lawyers simply cheated their clients who entrusted them with money on property transactions. It is a shame to the legal fraternity as Singapore aspires to be the legal hub in Asia.
I feel particularly disillusioned that these very people, who are trained to safeguard the law, actually exploited its loopholes.
These six fugitives may not be the last. Perhaps it is time the Law Society or Ministry of Law looked at some of the outdated conveyancing procedures regarding payment terms and conditions.
In this age of the Internet, property conveyancing still takes months, if not years, to complete.
Buyers are still required to make payment in a cashier's order in favour of the law firm when buying property, and not in the seller's name.
This practice predisposes the buyer to his lawyer's credit standing. The law firm sits on the money until it is time to disburse it.
It also encourages misappropriation. It provides easy interest-free money to the law firm, especially it was someone else's money with no fixed disbursement date.
Today, many financial transactions have been simplified, tightened and speeded up, but not property transactions.
Surely they can be simplified to allow buyers to pay sellers direct via electronic transfer, or even in the form of a cashier's order in the seller's name?
The legal profession must act quickly to prevent more absconding in the current economic slowdown.
Tan Ai Ker (Mdm)
