2 men charged with conspiring with ex-lawyer Jeffrey Ong to misappropriate millions of dollars

According to court records, the two men pleaded not guilty to their respective charges.

A view of the State Courts building in Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)

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SINGAPORE: Two men were charged on Wednesday (Sep 23) over an alleged conspiracy with former lawyer Jeffrey Ong , who was sentenced to 19 years' jail in 2023 for cheating and misappropriating millions of dollars that he had access to as an attorney.

He also used his clients' money as his own and committed forgery to cover up his crimes.

Ong's offences involved almost S$76 million (US$59.5 million) in misappropriated or cheated funds, with victims suffering monetary losses of about S$64 million and Ong benefiting by about S$7.2 million.

The charges against the two men, Wong Koon Lup and Kenneth Low Si Ren, follow the earlier conviction of Ong, the Singapore Police Force said in a news release on Wednesday.

Wong, 63, is a former chief executive officer and chairman of CW Group Holdings, while Low, 38, is a former executive director of Allied Technologies. Both companies maintained escrow facility arrangements with the law firm JLC Advisors, which acted as their escrow agent, the police said.

"These arrangements form the basis of the majority of charges faced by Wong and Low," they said.

Ong became a partner at JLC in 2011 and a managing partner at the firm in 2018.

JLC was incorporated in June 2008, and the firm focused on corporate financing and transactions and advised clients on matters like mergers and acquisitions as well as share placements.

Escrow refers to an arrangement where a third party holds the assets involved in a transaction temporarily. The assets are kept in a third-party account and are only released when all the terms of the agreement governing the transaction have been met.

Wong was handed 24 charges for alleged offences including criminal breach of trust for the purported misappropriation of about S$17 million belonging to his company and its subsidiary, CW Advanced Technologies.

The bulk of his charges – 13 of them – were for allegedly conspiring with Ong to commit criminal breach of trust as an attorney. The charges involve the alleged misappropriation of more than S$24 million that was held in CW Group's escrow facility with JLC.

He also faces six counts of cheating. He allegedly conspired with Ong to provide false audit confirmations to CW Group's statutory auditor, Ernst & Young Solutions.

According to court documents, Ong purportedly deceived Ernst & Young into believing that the CW Group escrow account maintained by JLC contained certain balances when it did not. Through this, Ong intentionally induced the auditor to issue a clean opinion on its audit of CW Group's Singapore-based entities, which it would not have done had it not been deceived, the documents read.

Wong is also accused of instigating his finance employees to falsify CW Group's financial statements for the financial years 2015 and 2016 by recording false payment and receipt vouchers.

Low was handed five charges, including four for allegedly conspiring with Ong to commit criminal breach of trust as an attorney. These charges involve the alleged misappropriation of more than S$11 million held in Allied Technologies' escrow facility with JLC.

The police said that Low was not the executive director of Allied Technologies when these alleged offences purportedly took place, on or before Oct 31, 2017.

During these alleged offences, which are said to have taken place on or before Oct 31, 2017, Low was not the executive director of Allied Technologies, the police said.

But he was holding that position when he allegedly conspired with Ong in a separate incident that occurred on or before Apr 15, 2019, to forge another person's signature on a cheque. The cheque amount was not mentioned in court documents.

According to court records, the two men pleaded not guilty to their respective charges and are scheduled to attend pre-trial conferences on Oct 27. These conferences are meant to deal with relevant matters before a trial date is scheduled.

For each count of abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust as an attorney, an offender can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined.

For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.

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根据法庭记录，这两名男子均对各自的指控拒不不认罪。

新加坡国家法院大楼一景。（资料照片：CNA/Jeremy Long）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

新加坡：两名男子于周三（9 月 23 日）被控与前律师 Jeffrey Ong 合谋，Jeffrey Ong 因欺诈和挪用其作为律师可支配的数百万美元，于 2023 年被判处 19 年监禁。

他还挪用客户的钱财，并伪造文件掩盖自己的罪行。

Ong 的犯罪行为涉及挪用或诈骗近 7600 万新元（5950 万美元）的资金，受害者遭受了约 6400 万新元的经济损失，而 Ong 则获利约 720 万新元。

新加坡警方周三在一份新闻稿中表示，对黄坤禄和刘思仁两名男子的指控是在翁某此前被定罪之后提出的。

现年63岁的黄某曾任CW集团控股公司首席执行官兼董事长，现年38岁的刘某曾任联合科技公司执行董事。警方表示，两家公司均与JLC Advisors律师事务所签订了托管协议，该事务所担任其托管代理人。

他们说：“这些安排构成了黄和刘面临的大部分指控的基础。”

Ong 于 2011 年成为 JLC 的合伙人，并于 2018 年成为该公司的管理合伙人。

JLC 成立于 2008 年 6 月，该公司专注于企业融资和交易，并就并购和股票配售等事宜为客户提供咨询。

第三方托管是指由第三方暂时保管交易涉及的资产的一种安排。这些资产存放在第三方账户中，只有在满足交易协议的所有条款后才会释放。

黄某被控犯有 24 项罪行，包括涉嫌挪用其公司及其子公司 CW Advanced Technologies 的约 1700 万新元，构成刑事失信罪。

他面临的13项指控中，大部分是与Ong合谋，涉嫌作为律师犯下刑事失信罪。这些指控涉及挪用CW集团在JLC托管账户中超过2400万新元的资金。

他还面临六项欺诈指控。据称，他与翁某合谋向CW集团的法定审计师安永会计师事务所提供虚假的审计确认书。

根据法庭文件，翁某涉嫌欺骗安永会计师事务所，使其相信由JLC管理的CW集团托管账户中存在实际余额。文件指出，翁某通过这种方式故意诱使安永对CW集团位于新加坡的实体出具无保留意见的审计报告，而如果安永没有受到欺骗，则不会出具该报告。

黄某还被指控唆使其财务人员伪造 CW 集团 2015 年和 2016 年的财务报表，方法是记录虚假的付款和收款凭证。

Low被控五项罪名，其中包括四项涉嫌与Ong合谋，以律师身份犯下刑事失信罪。这些指控涉及挪用Allied Technologies在JLC托管账户中超过1100万新元的资金。

警方表示，在2017年10月31日或之前发生的这些涉嫌犯罪行为中，Low并非Allied Technologies的执行董事。

警方表示，在这些据称发生在 2017 年 10 月 31 日或之前的犯罪行为发生期间，Low 并非 Allied Technologies 的执行董事。

但据称，他在担任该职务期间，与翁某合谋，在另一起发生在2019年4月15日或之前、伪造他人签名支票的事件中，与翁某合谋。法庭文件中并未提及支票金额。

根据法庭记录，这两名男子对各自的指控均不不认罪，并定于10月27日参加审前会议。这些会议旨在确定审判日期之前处理相关事宜。

对于每一项教唆他人以律师身份参与共谋实施刑事背信罪的指控，犯罪者可被判处最高 20 年监禁并处罚款。

每项作弊罪名，违法者可被判处最高三年监禁、罚款或两者并罚。

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