Singapore Lawyer Runs off to the Philippines
A Singaporean lawyer, Zulkifli Amin who has been missing since November 2007, ran off to the Philippines to escape possible criminal charges. Here’s the kicker – he billed the plane ticket to his law firm.
So he not only got away, he charged someone else to do so too. Talk about adding insult to injury.
According to the Strait Times, Zulkifli is under investigation for $6 million Singaporean dollars that went missing. A lawyer for seven years, Zulkifli is a partner in the Sadique, Marican and ZM Amin law firm. He was in charge of the conveyance and real estate department.
According to K.C. Vijayan, the Law Correspondent of the Strait Times, the runaway lawyer may have taken on “more work than he could handle.” Some of the transactions incurred financial penalties for delays. A number of these penalties were quite severe and allegedly caused Zulkifli to dip into other accounts he handled in order to pay off the surcharges.
This is illegal, and when other penalties started adding up, the whole thing “may
have snowballed,” according to the Times.
The interesting thing about this news report is Zulkifli’s choice of country. I am surprised Zulkifli picked the Philippines. Our country is not exactly the kind of place one would pick as a safe haven for criminals (unless you count the alleged training grounds for terrorists in the South, but even then Mr. Zulkifli isn’t exactly a terrorist).
Granted, the borders of the Philippines are porous; getting in and out of the country has never been particularly hard, and there are a number of Filipino fugitives who remain hidden to this day, such as COMELEC officer Lintang Bedol.
But I would have thought Zulkifli would have run off to some place like the Cayman Islands, or to Switzerland to escape the law, as traditionally seen in movies and novels.
As of this writing, I don’t know if the Singaporean government has contacted the Philippine one to investigate or apprehend Zulkifli. I do hope the Philippines does catch him though, if he is still in the country.
Otherwise, this rogue lawyer may not only give lawyers a bad name, he may also wind up giving our country a new reputation: as a hideout for criminals.
And no Filipino wants that. Ever.
Filed under: Blog, Business, Current Events, Law | Tagged: crime, lawyer, Philippines, singapore, Strait Times
err.. the fact that the guy needed to dip into other funds to pay for charges might mean he lacks the money to pay for a swiss ticket. Or either that, maybe he doesnt have a visa with the pending law suit. Or maybe he is using the Philippines as a hub. Easier to hie off to switzerland from our country. or maybe its easier to disappear into our 7107 islands…. whatever,, i just hope he gets spend some of those funds on our country
c’est tres expensive! —> But I would have thought Zulkifli would have run off to some place like the Cayman Islands, or to Switzerland to escape the law, as traditionally seen in movies and novels.