Lawyer billed client $112,800 for $48,000 work

[MarrickG]

A LAWYER who admitted gross misconduct after billing a client $112,800 for an estimated $48,000 worth of work is to appear before the legal profession’s highest disciplinary body.

Mr Anand Kumar Beldar will face the Court of Three Judges after the move was recommended by a disciplinary tribunal.

The court has the power to order a lawyer to be suspended or struck off the rolls, among other things.

Mr Anand, 44, has been a lawyer for about 10 years, but is currently not allowed to practise as he was made a bankrupt last year.

He was a salaried partner in the firm Sadique Marican & ZM Amin (SMZA) when he and his partner, Mr Sadique Marican, were hired by Ms
Irene Tan to enforce her rights to buy a property in April 2007.

However, in November 2007, another partner in the firm, Zulkifli Amin, absconded with more than $10 million of its clients’ money.

Mr Anand and Mr Marican then moved to Frontier Law Corporation (FLC), where they continued to represent Ms Tan.

But she complained that Mr Anand had sent her two bills, one from SMZA and one from FLC, which added up to $112,800.

This worked out to much more than the agreed $12,000 per day for the trial and $24,200 for trial preparation work.

The overcharging amounted to grossly improper conduct, said Law Society prosecutors Senior Counsel Andre Maniam and lawyer Wendy Lin.

Mr Anand, who represented himself, admitted the charges at a hearing in November before the two-man tribunal comprising Senior Counsel Stanley Lai and lawyer Ms Tan Gee Tuan.

The tribunal noted that the bill should have amounted to $48,000 “at most”.

“The tribunal does take a serious view towards (Mr Anand’s) conduct that resulted in these proceedings,” it said in its report released on Wednesday.

It noted that no steps were taken to refund the disputed sums to the victim.

Mr Marican has been struck off the rolls for grossly failing to supervise the accounts in the firm.

Zulkifli Amin was struck off the rolls for absconding with clients’ money. He is still on the run.

[email protected]