The Law Society paid out a record $631,000 in compensation to victims of rogue lawyers in its last financial year, a 1,288% increase from the previous year. This large payout was mainly due to $595,000 paid to two clients of lawyer Junaini Mainin, who stole $1.68 million from 12 clients over 7 years. The Society also paid $11,790 to victims of lawyer Daniel Loh, who stole $880,000 from clients. The fund aims to relieve victims' losses, not fully indemnify them, and prioritizes those left in financial hardship. All practicing lawyers contribute $100 annually to the fund.
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30,000 in bonding by the river, 31 May 2009, Sunday Times
The Law Society paid out a record $631,000 in compensation to victims of rogue lawyers in its last financial year, a 1,288% increase from the previous year. This large payout was mainly due to $595,000 paid to two clients of lawyer Junaini Mainin, who stole $1.68 million from 12 clients over 7 years. The Society also paid $11,790 to victims of lawyer Daniel Loh, who stole $880,000 from clients. The fund aims to relieve victims' losses, not fully indemnify them, and prioritizes those left in financial hardship. All practicing lawyers contribute $100 annually to the fund.
The Law Society paid out a record $631,000 in compensation to victims of rogue lawyers in its last financial year, a 1,288% increase from the previous year. This large payout was mainly due to $595,000 paid to two clients of lawyer Junaini Mainin, who stole $1.68 million from 12 clients over 7 years. The Society also paid $11,790 to victims of lawyer Daniel Loh, who stole $880,000 from clients. The fund aims to relieve victims' losses, not fully indemnify them, and prioritizes those left in financial hardship. All practicing lawyers contribute $100 annually to the fund.
쐽 Junaini Mainin (far left), 46, took $1.68 million from 12 clients over seven years. These
Society record sum included people of modest
backgrounds selling their family homes. He was jailed in 2004. The massive sum paid by the Law Society in its last financial year resulted from $595,000 to two of his clients. Compensation a growing concern manager, who lost $26,000 to Amin, look to the po- 쐽 Jailed in 2003, Daniel Loh lice to nab the rogue. with $631,000 paid in last financial “I am not resigned to the loss and hope to hear (left), 41, filched $880,000 in clients’ monies. The society year to victims of lawyers’ fraud from the authorities at some point in time,” he said. paid $11,790 to victims of his. vijayan@sph.com.sg K. C. Vijayan Law Correspondent
The Law Society paid out some $631,000 in its last
financial year to help victims of rogue lawyers. The payout is a record 1,288 per cent jump from the $45,481 spent in the previous financial year. But this spike resulted mainly from $595,000 paid to two clients, making this the largest sum ever paid for a single case. The two had suffered losses from the fraud of lawyer Junaini Mainin, 46, who was jailed for seven years in 2004. He had taken some $1.68 million from 12 clients over a period of seven years. His victims included those with modest backgrounds selling their family homes. One was an elderly woman who wanted her children to benefit from the sale of her house. Junaini swiped some $790,000 from the sale. From the remaining $36,000 disbursed by the Law Society in its last financial year, $11,790 was compen- sation for the fraud of rogue lawyer Daniel Loh, who filched some $880,000 in clients’ monies. The 41-year-old was jailed for 41/2 years in 2003. A Law Society spokesman explained that the funds paid out are not meant to fully indemnify victims but serve to relieve or mitigate their losses, as provided in the Legal Profession Act. “Whether to make a grant and the amount of a grant is a decision made by the Council of the Law Society, having taken into ac- count all the circumstances of the case.” Senior lawyer Abdul Rashid Abdul Gani, chairman of the seven-member committee which studies the victims’ applications and puts up its recommenda- tions to the Council, said a key consideration is the “hardship” suffered. It is understood this refers espe- cially to victims left in dire financial straits as a result of the rogue lawyer’s fraud, as in the Junaini case. Mr Rashid emphasised that the fund is meant to compensate those who suffered from lawyer dishones- ty, not professional negligence. Dishonesty extends to the lawyer’s staff as well. All practising lawyers contribute $100 annually to the Compensation Fund. Lawyers found negligent are covered under their own firm’s insurance scheme, not the Society’s fund. Meanwhile, compensation or redress has become an increasing concern for victims. In the past few years, a handful of rogue lawyers have fled with record-breaking amounts: David Rasif fled with about $12 million in 2006; Zulkifli Amin with more than $6 million in 2007; and Sivakolunthu Thirunavukarasu with more than $1.5 million in 2004. Two applications for compensation arising from the dishonesty of Sivakolunthu were rejected by the Law Society’s Council. The Singapore-based American couple who lost more than $11 million in a property deal entrusted to Rasif also received no payout from the Law Society. With compensation as a limited option, the Ameri- can couple have sought redress in the courts here. Their appeal against a failed suit involving the jew- ellers who sold Rasif more than $2 million in gems is expected to be heard by the Court of Appeal in July. Their claim: Rasif used the stolen monies for the deal before he fled. Two victims of Amin have filed suits against his former law firm and these are pending before the courts. Four applications for compensation made by clients of Amin were rejected, among others, by the Law Society, according to its report for the period Sep- tember 2007 to August last year. Others like Mr John Sasayiah, 38, an operations
IN BRIEF
30,000 in bonding by the river
It was a day to remember for Luke when the three-year-old joined his father, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, for a Singapore River cruise yesterday. The occasion was the Family Day Out Carnival and more than 30,000 people turned up. Held by the river, the event was part of National Family Celebrations ‘09.
PHOTO: ASIA PR WERKZ
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and son Luke enjoy a cruise with (second row) MPs Seah Kian Peng and Josephine Teo, who are part of the National Family Celebrations’ organising committee.
40% more seek social assistance
Between April last year and March this year, the North West Community Development Council received 11,500 applications for social assistance. This is a 40 per cent increase from the previous financial year. Dr Teo Ho Pin, mayor of North West District, reported these figures during his address to 350 community leaders who attended the North West District Meeting at Republic Polytechnic yesterday.
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