SINGAPORE (June 24): Jeffrey Ong Su Aun might be the managing director of law firm JLC Advisors. But as details of his escape to Malaysia were revealed, it would not have been difficult to imagine the 41-year-old as a character in a novel by his namesake, Jeffrey Archer.
In court on June 20, Ong faced 13 fresh charges of forgery for the purpose of cheating, bringing the total number of charges he faces to 22. Ong is alleged to have falsified a series of documents to deceive one Chan Yi Zhang into believing that US$4.9 million ($6.6 million) was still held in escrow by JLC.
Ong was first charged on June 1 for cheating CCJ Investments of $6 million. On June 13, he was slapped with a further eight charges of forging documents for the purpose of cheating three other clients of a total of $16 million. Ong is also linked to the $33 million belonging to Allied Technologies that went missing in an escrow account managed by JLC.
The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) on May 21 received a complaint lodged against Ong, just one day after he resigned as chairman of Annica Holdings.
As the authorities launched an investigation into Ong, they realised that the lawyer had already left for Malaysia on May 13, after partners in his law firm pressed him into accounting for the clients’ monies. Apart from his wife, Ong did not inform anyone else of his plans to travel to Malaysia.
Instead of leaving in his family car, which is registered in his wife’s name, Ong made arrangements with a friend, Nicholas, who obtained a private-hire car to drive Ong into Malaysia.
There, Ong met with another man, Dennis, who brought Ong to stay at his office for two to three days, before moving Ong to a hotel in Cheras, Vivatel Kuala Lumpur. Ong was careful not to pay for the hotel room using any of his credit cards. Instead, all the arrangements were made by Dennis. Around the same time he moved into the hotel, Ong went incommunicado.
On May 16, Ong disposed of his Singapore mobile phone after removing the SIM card. He then asked Dennis to provide him with another mobile phone. Dennis passed Ong a mobile phone with a SIM card. But before he used this phone, Ong removed this SIM card and used a China SIM card instead.
Indeed, Ong could not be too careful. A warrant of arrest was issued against him on May 25, based on the holding charge of cheating CCJ Investments of $6 million. It was at this hotel that Ong was eventually arrested by Malaysian police on May 29 — more than two weeks after he went “missing”.
When Ong was arrested, he was found to be in possession of a Malaysian passport reported as stolen, belonging to a 43-year-old Chinese male whose photo bore some resemblance to Ong. He was unable to satisfactorily explain why he had the passport with him.
In an affidavit by CAD officer Bernard Kho Wee Chong submitted to the court on June 20, Ong is described as a high flight risk. “I have reason to believe that the accused has the knowledge and means to abscond effectively.”
Besides Ong, CAD has also interviewed 15 other persons connected to the case. “The investigation findings thus far reveal that the scheme and extent of the fraud perpetrated by the accused is far larger and more complex than what was initially reported in the police report,” Kho said.
He added that it is likely Ong will face more charges involving other entities. No charges have been tendered yet over the unauthorised $33 million payout related to Allied Technologies. Ong will return to court for the next mention on July 11.
