MinLaw Acts Against 4 Law Firms, Lawyer Over Seized Properties

One practice gets $100k penalty; lawyer referred to Law Soc for disciplinary action

- Samuel Devaraj

The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) has taken four law firms and one lawyer to task for anti-money laundering breaches over the purchase of properties in the $3 billion money laundering case, with one of the practices receiving the maximum penalty of $100,000.

In a press release on July 15, MinLaw said it is supporting the Director of Legal Services (DLS) in conducting inquiries into the law practices that were involved in the conveyancing of the real estate seized in an anti-money laundering operation in August 2023.

It said the DLS conducted investigations into 24 law practices that were involved, and 11 of the probes have been concluded.

The DLS heads the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, a department under MinLaw that oversees the regulation of all law practice entities and the registration of foreign lawyers in Singapore.

The DLS has ordered two law practices to pay financial penalties of $30,000 and $100,000 respectively.

A third law practice was issued a statutory notice of the intention to order it to pay a financial penalty of $70,000. A final decision will be made after receiving and considering the firm's written representations, if any, MinLaw said.

The ministry added that the DLS privately reprimanded a fourth law practice, and also referred one lawyer to the Law Society of Singapore for disciplinary action.

MinLaw did not name the four law practices and the lawyer that have received enforcement action.

The Straits Times has contacted the ministry for more information.