Then Feng was sentenced to 10 years and three months’ jail on Nov 10.
A former lawyer, who was convicted after tricking a director of two firms into disbursing more than $8 million to his own company, was sentenced on Nov 10 to 10 years and three months’ jail.
In August, following a trial, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan convicted Then Feng, 43, of 16 charges including multiple counts of cheating and forgery.
Then’s trial centred on whether he had misrepresented to Mr Andrew Ling Hui, then a director at companies including Providence Asset Management, such that the latter believed he was procuring services from and dealing with Walkers, an international law firm.
Then, a Singaporean, was then employed by Walkers.
He had learnt that his firm was going to launch an affiliated corporate services firm in 2015 named Walkers Professional Services in the Cayman Islands.
In June 2015, Then incorporated a company of the same name in the British Virgin Islands without his then employer’s knowledge.
He admitted to basing the entire branding of his firm, from the name to its logo, on that of Walkers’ business.
Then, however, insisted that he had set up the firm at the time without any intention of it being associated with the law firm.
In 2018, Then told Mr Ling that Walkers could provide escrow services for cryptocurrency transactions.
Escrow is an essential service in capital markets that supports transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.
Then added that those services would be done with a bank account under Walkers Professional Services.
The prosecution stated in its submissions that Mr Ling had believed the services would be rendered to him by the international law firm, and not Then’s personal company.
In April 2018, Then and Mr Ling agreed to buy a foreign bank together.
Under the agreement, Then told Mr Ling that Walkers would provide escrow services for the transaction, and that monies provided for the acquisition would be held in a bank account controlled by Walkers.
Mr Ling then arranged for various payments amounting to more than $8 million to be made to what he believed were Walkers’ bank accounts, but he unknowingly wired the money to Then’s company instead.
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