Opposition politician Lim Tean first rose to prominence in GE2020 as leader of the Peoples Voice party. However, the lawyer has found himself embroiled in several controversial sagas in recent times.
Earlier this week, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) announced that Lim Tean will be charged with three offences. He has since posted a video maintaining his innocence, claiming that people were trying to disqualify him from the next General Election.
On Wednesday (11 May), the lawyer posted yet another video addressing one of the alleged offences, Criminal Breach of Trust.
Lim Tean alleged that the complainant, one of his former clients, did not turn up for a disciplinary tribunal hearing. The Peoples Voice leader also said the complainant was not credible and called him a “drunk”.
In the video posted on his Facebook page, Lim Tean spoke about the Criminal Breach of Trust offence that the police brought against him earlier on Tuesday (10 May).
Source: Lim Tean on Facebook
The 57-year-old said he was accused of pocketing S$30,000 from a pro bono client named Suresh Kumar. The lawyer alleged that Suresh was a “drunk” who borrowed money from him on several occasions.
After representing him for more than a year following a motor accident, Lim said he managed to get Suresh a “very nice settlement” from an insurance company.
The opposition politician, however, claimed that Suresh got up to some “funny tricks”, changing lawyers multiple times before making claims that Lim Tean had not given him what was due to him.
Lim Tean denied this allegation, stating that he even had an eyewitness.
Fast forward to the present day, Lim Tean said the complainant did not turn up for a disciplinary tribunal hearing on Wednesday (11 May) morning. Suresh was apparently also “uncontactable” that morning.
According to TODAY, the agenda of the hearing involved a professional misconduct charge brought against Lim by the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc).
Later in the video, Lim Tean said the LawSoc has withdrawn the charge against him.
While the matter involving LawSoc seems to have been resolved, it appears the criminal charges against him are still outstanding.
On Thursday (12 May), Lim Tean was reportedly charged with the three offences that SPF had listed earlier in the week:
However, that may not be the end of it as he may face “further charges” related to Cheating and Criminal Breach of Trust, reports TODAY.
The police will reportedly require another two months to look into these potential charges.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Lim is scheduled to return to court in July for a pre-trial conference.
A group of Lim Tean’s supporters also turned up at the State Courts on Thursday (12 May).
In a separate video, the lawyer thanked his supporters and said the charges are politically-charged.
While Lim Tean is no stranger to being in the limelight, it’s never pleasant to be the subject of such serious allegations.
In any case, only time will tell how the cases will progress and eventually conclude.
We hope the allegations against Lim Tean will be resolved soon and that all parties will be able to settle their differences amicably.
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Featured image adapted from Lim Tean on Facebook.
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