SINGAPORE: A law firm’s lover was able to embezzle more than Randomness$ 11 million( US$ 8 million ) of clients’ funds after the lawyer was barred from practice in 2011 for failing to oversee the accounts of the firm.
On Tuesday( Sept. 5 ) of twelve years later, Mr. Mohd Sadique Ibrahim Marican was reinstated as a lawyer and advocate for the Supreme Court of Singapore.
According to court records, Mr. Zulkifli Mohd Amin founded their law firm in 2004 along with Mrs. Sadique.
The company’s managing partner, Mr. Zulkifli, oversaw its customer and business accounts. Mr. Sadique & nbsp was in charge of overseeing staff salaries and reviewing client account balances on a monthly basis.
Mr. Sadique learned that the company’s customer and business records were overdrawn on November 19, 2007. A day later, Mr. Zulkifli fled with money from more than 80 users.
When the Court of Three Judges discovered in 2011 that Mr. Sadique had permitted Mr Zulkifli to maintain their agency’s accounts alone and without a platform for regular checks, he was reprimanded.
Given the significant financial loss to clients, the court at the time referred to it as an extraordinary circumstance. Although Mr. Sadique wasn’t dishonest, it was determined that he was negligent in his duties and had” serious breach of professional duty.”
Additionally, it mandated that Mr. Zulkifli be removed from the roll and referred to him as” apparently dishonest.”
Mr. Sadique and the company made arrangements to pay out more than Sulfur$ 1 million to the agency’s customers following the absconding of Mrs. Zulkifli. However, Mr. Sadique was declared bankrupt in 2010 because he was able to make up the majority of the debts owed.
He made regular payment of an average of S$ 1,000 for the following 12 years until his failure was declared in 2022. This included the time in 2013 when he received a tumor diagnosis, which returned in 2015.
The Court of Three Judges declared on Tuesday that Mr. Sadique had been entirely recovered and that his reinstatement do not jeopardize the reputation of the legal profession or the common interest.
The court ruled in a judgment that Mr. Sadique’s termination was not the result of any flaw in his personality but rather of his incompetence in failing to adequately supervise the strong ‘ customer account.
Attorneys for the Law Society and Attorney General’s Chambers did not object to Mr. Siraj Omar of Drew & amp, Napier, who argued for his client to be reinstated.
The claims in Mr. Sadique’s favor included his continued presence in international legal function. He began working in Dubai’s internal legal departments in 2011 and eventually received recognition as a general counsel.
According to Mr. Siraj,” He has definitely kept his head clean, his nose down, and he has worked difficult.”
The judges even took note of Mr. Sadique’s employer and coworker endorsements, which they claimed attested to his skill and professionalism as well as his integrity in handling sizable sums of money while working in the Middle East.
According to his attorney, this included a” million dollar annual legal resources that was” carefully managed” by Mr. Sadique in his capacity as party general counsel.
The” large period” of more than 12 years since he was struck off was also taken into account by the court.
Mr. Sadique was reinstated under the condition that he not be the sole owner, companion, or director of any law practice for a year following the issuance of his first practising certificate.
The Law Society’s courses on ethics and the Legal Profession ( Solicitors’ Accounts ) Rules, as well as not receiving any client or trust account funds, are additional requirements for that year.