ST : Lawyer ordered to return $300,000 over failed deal‏

Nov 4, 2009

Lawyer ordered to return $300,000 over failed deal

By K.C. Vijayan

A BUSINESSMAN who lost his investment in a property deal and sued the lawyer involved managed to obtain $300,000 out of the $1 million invested.

Mr Satinder Singh Garcha said he was talked into investing the sum and claimed that his lawyer S. Uthayasurian, who is also known as Mr Surian, was instrumental in the loss of that money.

Among other things, Mr Singh claimed the lawyer did not tell him that the middleman involved in the deal was an undischarged bankrupt. But Judicial Commissioner Quentin Loh, who released his judgment on Monday, said Mr Singh knew this all along.

Mr Uthayasurian, who has 18 years of legal experience, has already been suspended from practising for a year by a Court of Three Judges in May, in disciplinary proceedings over the same case.

He had acted for multiple parties involved in a property development project on a 117,000 sq ft plot of land in Tanglin Hill owned by the Brunei government.

Mr Singh not only put in the money in May 2006 but also authorised an undischarged bankrupt, Mr Louis Ang, to disburse the funds.

A week later, he found that most of the money had gone to other parts of the project and legal costs.

Mr Singh, represented by WongPartnership lawyers, sued Mr Surian to get back his investment.

Mr Surian, who was paid legal fees of $100,000 out of the investment, refunded the payment made to him, but Mr Singh wanted the rest of his money back.

He claimed that Mr Surian did not alert him to Mr Ang's status as a bankrupt, nor advise him about the risks of giving a bankrupt 'unfettered authority' to handle money.

But Mr Surian's lawyer N. Sreenivasan countered that Mr Singh knew Mr Ang was an undischarged bankrupt and that, being an experienced businessman, was aware of the risks involved, such as having to forgo any claim against a bankrupt should anything go wrong.

Judicial Commissioner Loh, in his 34-page judgment, agreed with the defence.

He added that Mr Surian never thought of bringing up Mr Ang's bankruptcy status with Mr Singh because Mr Ang had been open about it and had raised it in various meetings with relevant parties which included Mr Singh.

Judicial Commissioner Loh said Mr Singh was 'someone who was willing to shape his evidence, in not insignificant areas, to suit his case'.

He said Mr Singh would still have participated in the project even if he knew Mr Ang was a bankrupt as he was keen to develop long-term ties with the Brunei royal family and government.

The judge held that Mr Surian was not liable for the $550,000 paid to two other parties from the funds provided by Mr Singh. It was clear that money was meant for the intended recipients.

But the lawyer was liable for $300,000 paid to one Mr Lim Beng Huat, who was Mr Ang's driver.

The judge made it clear that Mr Surian had been negligent in making the payout to the driver without probing the reasons or checking with Mr Singh, and this led to the loss.

Mr Singh, who was described as 'extremely intelligent, very sharp and very quick' by the judge, came from the United States to settle in Singapore several years ago.

The businessman is also an avid polo player who captained the Singapore team to a silver medal in the 2007 SEA Games.