All 14 charges withdrawn for ex-lawyer accused of alleged links to illegal moneylending business
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 26 Oct 2024
Author: Shaffiq Alkhatib
The court had granted Ms Leong Pek Gan, 70, a discharge amounting to an acquittal following a pre-trial conference on Oct 22.
A former lawyer accused of offences including assisting a company with an alleged illegal moneylending business can now walk free after she was given a stern warning and had all 14 of her charges withdrawn.
The court had granted Ms Leong Pek Gan, 70, a discharge amounting to an acquittal following a pre-trial conference on Oct 22. This means, she cannot be charged again over the same offences.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times on Oct 24, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said Ms Leong was initially charged in September 2019 with offences including those under the Moneylenders Act.
Without revealing details, an AGC spokesperson added: “After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the matter, the prosecution directed for a stern warning in lieu of prosecution to be administered to Leong, and thereafter applied for a discharge amounting to an acquittal of all of (her) charges.”
District Judge Terence Tay had granted the application.
Ms Leong was part of a group of people who were charged in court on Sept 26, 2019, over their alleged links to what was said to be an illegal moneylending business from 2012 to 2014.
She was a lawyer at the time of the alleged offences.
Ms Leong had been accused of helping a company called Invest-Ho Properties in its allegedly unlawful moneylending activities by drafting various documents relating to multiple properties to secure the loans.
A man identified as Ho Soo Fong, 67, was also charged on Sept 26, 2019.
In an earlier statement that year, the police said he was the majority shareholder and a director of Invest-Ho Properties.
As its director then, Ho allegedly consented to the company extending loans of about $2 million to eight borrowers, securing each loan on the property of the borrower, added the police.
This was despite the company not having a licence to conduct moneylending activities.
According to court documents that were tendered in 2019, the eight properties on which the loans were secured included Housing Board flats in Bukit Batok, Jurong West and Tampines, as well as a landed property in Sembawang.
A search with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority on Oct 25, 2024, revealed that Ho is no longer a director at Invest-Ho Properties.
His case is pending.
Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
2153