SINGAPORE – Former lawyer Jeffrey Ong Su Aun was jailed for 19 years on Monday after he misappropriated nearly $76 million of his clients’ money.
The case involved the largest amount of money misappropriated by a lawyer in Singapore.
Ong’s sentence is the heaviest meted out to a former member of the Bar for such offences.
The prosecution said that Ong, the former managing partner of JLC Advisors, had treated cash from the firm’s clients as his own, adding: “The accused freely disbursed these monies as he deemed fit to benefit himself, his friends and his business associates.”
Ong, 45, pleaded guilty to 10 charges including criminal breach of trust.
Sixty-six other charges, including those involving the remaining amount, were considered during sentencing.
Ong had enjoyed a personal benefit of more than $7.2 million from his offences and had made no restitution.
