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. Continue reading
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