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Lawyer Jeffrey Ong faces 4 more CBT charges involving $11.7 million

Jeffrey Ong Su Aun, the 41-year-old managing partner of JLC Advisors, was first charged on 1 June. PHOTO: JLC Advisors
Jeffrey Ong Su Aun, the 41-year-old managing partner of JLC Advisors, was first charged on 1 June. PHOTO: JLC Advisors

SINGAPORE — Lawyer Jeffrey Ong Su Aun, who was arrested across the Causeway last year after some $33 million held in escrow by his law firm went missing, appeared before the State Courts again on Tuesday (11 August).

The 42-year-old received four fresh charges of criminal breach of trust as an attorney, involving a total of $11,700,020 from an escrow facility held by JLC Advisors for Catalist-listed Allied Technologies Limited. The moneys were placement proceeds for a share placement exercise carried out by Allied Technologies in October 2017.

In all, Ong, who was the managing partner of JLC Advisors, now faces 57 charges – for cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery.

Ong first made the headlines when he disappeared after the $33 million was found to be missing. Earlier court documents revealed that he allegedly fled to Malaysia after being pressed to account for the unauthorised withdrawals of client monies by the partners in his law firm on 13 May last year.

He became uncontactable three days later and a police report was made about his alleged criminal breach of trust on 21 May.

A warrant of arrest for Ong was then issued on 25 May, leading to his arrest by the Malaysian police in a hotel room four days later. Among his possessions was a stolen Malaysian passport belonging to a Malaysian Chinese man, whose face and age were similar to Ong’s.

Ong was later repatriated to Singapore and charged at the State Courts on 1 June with one count of cheating.

The breakdown of his 57 charges to-date are as follows:

  • 1 count of cheating CCJ Investment Limited into disbursing $6 million;

  • 8 counts of forging documents to cheat CCJ Investments into disbursing $6 million;

  • 16 counts of forging statement of accounts for JLC Advisors’ bank account for the purpose of cheating;

  • 1 count of misappropriating US$4,851,289.15 from a bank account while acting as a solicitor of JLC Advisors;

  • 8 counts of misappropriating $21,554,609.12 from the share placement proceeds for Allied Technologies while acting as a solicitor of JLC Advisors;

  • 3 counts of misappropriating $12,285,065.85, the amount being the balance consideration from the sale of Allied Machineries (Shanghai), while acting as a solicitor of JLC Advisors;

  • 14 counts of cheating over the issuance of false escrow notices between 3 November 2017 and 22 January 2019 to the board of directors of Allied Technologies;

  • 1 count of forging a JLC Advisors partner’s signature on a cheque for $33,153,416.56, which was issued to Allied Technologies;

  • 1 count of misappropriating $250,000 from a bank account, the amount being funds belonging to a client of JLC advisors, while acting as a solicitor of JLC advisors; and

  • 4 counts of misappropriating $11,700,020 from a bank account, the amount being monies held in escrow, while acting as a solicitor of JLC Advisors.

Police investigations are ongoing.

The maximum penalty for criminal breach of trust as an attorney is life imprisonment, or a jail term of up to 20 years along with a fine.

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