Top 3 crooked lawyers

In terms of monies stolen, these 3 lawyers are tops in Singapore -

1. David Rasif who fled in June 2006 with over $11 million, $10.7 million of which was placed by an American couple with him for a purchase of a house. He appears to be the first lawyer to abscond based solely on greed; the previous lawyers who fled with client's monies appeared to be under great financial pressure. This is not to excuse any of them but merely to look at the psychological factors behind fraud.

2. Tan Cheng Yew, a well-known debater, fled in 2003 with over $5 million of trust funds entrusted to him in relation to the building of a church. Recent reports in September 2009 state that he has been arrested in Germany.

3. Zulkiffli Amin, a partner of lawyer firm Sadique Marican & ZM Amin, fled Singapore in November 2007 with over $6 million of clients' monies.

The victims of these dishonest lawyers are -

a) the clients who lost the money;

b) often the partners in the law firm of dishonest partner who end up having to bear the loss if the loss is considered to be a partnership debt under the Partnership Act;

c) the Law Society's Compensation Fund, and

d) public trust in lawyers.