Former lawyer guilty of practising despite being disbarred
Ex-lawyer gave legal advice while disbarred
A former lawyer, who was disbarred in 2012, found himself on the wrong side of the law yesterday.
Leonard Loo Peng Chee, 45, pleaded guilty to four counts of acting as an advocate and solicitor despite not being authorised to do so.
A fifth charge for the same offence, and one count each of abetting a man to intentionally obstruct the course of justice, and engaging in a conspiracy with another man to pretend to be an advocate and solicitor, will be taken into consideration during sentencing.
When he was struck off the rolls for professional misconduct in 2012, Loo, who was admitted to the Bar in 1995, had the dubious record of having the most complaints filed against him.
COMPLAINTS
The Law Society had received 14 complaints from his clients and the courts, covering at least 86 instances of misconduct, including dishonesty.
Despite being disbarred, he acted as a lawyer for Chinese national Zhao Kejing, 34, in 2013.
On Nov 20 that year, Ms Zhao was arrested for suspected vice-related activities and referred to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
Ms Zhao, who was scheduled to be repatriated two days later, mentioned her predicament to her landlord, who gave her Loo's contact number.
On Nov 21, Ms Zhao sought Loo's help to get back her impounded passport without a ban on her returning to Singapore in the future.
Loo agreed to help and drafted a letter of appeal, which she signed and submitted to the police.She was later told that the police had rejected her appeal and she had to leave Singapore on Nov 23.
Loo, who was paid $600 by Ms Zhao, wrote a second letter for her to submit to the police. Court papers did not mention the outcome of her case.
Yesterday, the court heard that Loo had provided similar services to three other women between Nov 21 and 28, 2013.
Two of them, Ms Luo Guangzhen, 24, and Ms Luo Chunyan, 26, were arrested for suspected vice-related activities on Nov 19. Loo charged them $800 each for his services.
Their friend, Ms Xie Xin Xin, 27, wanted Loo to help herextend her social visit pass, but later changed her mind.
Loo, who is out on $10,000 bail, will be back in court on Aug 12.
For each count of acting as an advocate and solicitor without authorisation, he can be jailed up to six months and fined up to $25,000.
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