SINGAPORE – A former lawyer accused of aiding and abetting a company in connection with an illegal money lending business has been given a strict warning, all 14 charges have been dropped and he has been released.
As a result of the pre-trial conference on October 22nd, the court granted 70-year-old Leon Baek-gang his release, which is equivalent to an acquittal. This means she cannot be charged again with the same charges.
In response to questions from The Straits Times on October 24, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said Mr Leong was first charged in September 2019 with offenses including those under the Money Lending Act.
Without providing further details, an AGC spokesperson added: “After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the matter, the public prosecutor's office directed that Ms. Leon be given a stern warning in lieu of indictment, and then applied for a release equivalent to acquittal.” (Her) fees are all . ”
District Judge Terence Tay granted the application.
Leung was part of a group indicted in court on September 26, 2019, for allegedly being involved in an alleged illegal money lending business between 2012 and 2014.
She was a lawyer at the time of the alleged crime.
Leong was accused of assisting a company called Invest Ho Properties in its illegal money lending activities and creating various documents related to multiple properties to secure the loans.
A man identified as Ho Sue Huong (67) was also indicted on September 26, 2019.
In a statement earlier that year, police said he was the largest shareholder and director of Invest Ho Properties.
Ho, who was a director at the time, agreed that the company would make loans of about $2 million to eight borrowers and secure each loan on the borrower's premises, police added.
This was despite the fact that the company did not have a moneylending license.
According to court documents filed in 2019, the eight properties secured by the loan included Housing Board apartments in Bukit Batok, Jurong West and Tampines, and a land property in Sembawang.
An investigation by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority on 25 October 2024 revealed that Mr Ho was no longer a director of Invest Ho Properties.
His case is pending.
