Tag Archives: General

Man sues lawyer to recover $850k lost in property deal

A BUSINESSMAN who lost his investment in a property deal has sued the lawyer involved in the deal to get back $850,000.

Mr Satinder Singh Garcha said he was talked into investing $1 million and found after a week that only $50,000 was left.

In the lawsuit, which opened in the High Court yesterday, he alleged that the lawyer in question, Mr Uthayasurian Sidambaram, was instrumental in the loss of that money.

He claimed that Mr Uthayasurian was grossly negligent and had failed to advise him of the conflicts of interest in the case.

The lawyer, who had 18 years’ experience, was suspended from practising for a year by a Court of Three Judges in May, in disciplinary proceedings over the same case.

In its written judgment, the court warned lawyers to avoid the pitfalls of situations in which they represent multiple clients in the same case.

Mr Uthayasurian had acted for multiple parties involved in a project to build on a 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. Continue reading

S’pore shares fall on property clampdown

Singapore shares closed 1.54 per cent lower on Monday, dragged down by tumbling property stocks after the government announced new measures to curb real estate speculation.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index fell 41.29 points to 2,639.74 on volume of 2.40 billion shares worth $1.79 billion (US$1.25 billion). Decliners outnumbered risers 452 to 118, with 675 issues unchanged.

Property stocks led the decline after the government announced fresh measures to curb speculation in the red-hot real estate market, following warnings that a new bubble might be forming despite an economic slowdown.

Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of property advisers CB Richard Ellis in Singapore, said the key measures were curbs on bank lending to finance property purchases.

‘This would remove much of the speculative element from the burgeoning sales volume,’ Mr Li said.

Among property stocks, CapitaLand dropped 15 cents to $3.72, Keppel Land eased 17 cents to $2.66 and City Developments was down 84 cents to $10.24.

Banks also tumbled, with DBS falling 18 cents to $12.92, United Overseas Bank dropping 16 cents to $16.70 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp closing nine cents lower at $7.74.

Singapore Telecom was down four cents to $3.16 and Singapore Airlines ended 50 cents weaker at $12.96. — AFP

Source : Business Times – 14 Sep 2009