2 men charged with offences allegedly linked to ex-lawyer who took nearly $76m of clients’ money

Two men have been charged with offenses allegedly tied to a former Singaporean lawyer who was sentenced to 19 years in 2023 for misusing nearly $76 million of his clients' money. Jeffrey Ong Su Aun, 45 at the time, took the heaviest punishment for such crimes against a former barrister in Singapore. The charges against him were the most severe for a former lawyer in the country.

One of the defendants, Wong Koon Lup, 63, appeared in a district court on September 23 and faced 24 charges, including criminal breach of trust (CBT) and cheating. He is the former CEO and chairman of CW Group Holdings, a company that was once listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The second defendant, Kenneth Low Si Ren, 38, was charged with four counts of CBT and one count of forgery. He is the former executive director of Allied Technologies, another company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

The court heard that Ong had treated funds from the firm's clients as his own property. CW Group and Allied Technologies had utilized escrow arrangements with JLC, the escrow agent, which forms the basis of most of the charges against Wong and Low. Wong is accused of conspiring with Ong to commit CBT between 2015 and 2018, with allegations that he misappropriated over $24 million held in CW Group's escrow facility with JLC.

He was also charged with three counts of CBT for misappropriating around $17 million belonging to CW Group and its subsidiary, CW Advanced Technologies. Wong allegedly conspired with Ong and Zheng Jiabin to conceal the misappropriation from CW Group's board of directors. He allegedly provided false audit confirmations to CW Group's statutory auditor, Ernst & Young Solutions, instigated one Ng Geok Luan to cheat Ernst & Young Solutions, and falsified CW Group's financial statements by ordering his finance staff to do so.

Low is accused of conspiring with Ong to misappropriate over $11 million held in Allied Technologies' escrow facility with JLC. He was not the executive director of Allied Technologies at the time of the alleged offenses on or before October 31, 2017, but was when he allegedly forged a cheque on or before April 15, 2019. The pre-trial conferences for both men are scheduled for October 27.

CBT as an attorney can result in up to 20 years in jail and fines, while cheating carries a penalty of up to three years in jail, fines, or both for each charge. Ong allegedly benefited personally from his offenses by over $7.2 million and has not made any restitution.