Lim Tean charged with criminal breach of trust and stalking an ex-employee; more charges is expected

Kenny Hoo
May 12, 2022
2 min read

On Thursday (May 12), lawyer and politician Lim Tean was charged with criminal breach of trust, unlawful stalking, and acting as an unauthorised advocate or solicitor.

According to charge papers, the 57-year-old is charged with criminal breach of trust for allegedly misappropriating S$30,000 that was entrusted to him between November 14, 2019 and December 4, 2019.

The police said on Tuesday that the amount was paid to Lim's former client as a settlement in a civil complaint involving a motor vehicle accident.

Lim is also charged with three counts of acting as an unlicensed advocate or attorney. He is accused of initiating, conducting, or defending 32 court procedures on behalf of clients between April 1, 2021 and June 4, 2021.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong filed a defamation action against Mr. Terry Xu, the former editor-in-chief of the now-defunct The Online Citizen, on April 19 of last year. Lim was Mr. Xu's lawyer.

He is also accused of drafting court papers and instruments 33 times between Apr 1, 2021 and Jun 9, 2021, and issuing a writ of summons on Apr 1, 2021, while acting for Jiangsu New Huaming International Trading.

The police said on Tuesday that Lim acted as an advocate or solicitor without a legal practicing certificate. Certificates of practice are renewed annually for each practice year, which runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

Additionally, Lim was charged with unlawful stalking. In 2020, Lim is accused of allegedly harassing a former employee of his legal firm.

The employee allegedly directed police to text conversations she and Lim had exchanged.

According to charge sheets, during April and May of 2020, Lim is suspected of sending her several flirty text messages, causing her discomfort.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Edwin Soh said that the police needed an additional two months to investigate more potential offenses including fraud and criminal breach of trust, with the chance that Lim will be charged with additional offenses.

In July, Lim will appear in court for a pre-trial conference.

Thursday morning, a handful of his supporters attended the State Courts session.

After the hearing, Lim thanked them for their support as he addressed them outside the building. Ms. Iris Koh, the founder of the Healing the Divide Group, her husband Mr. Raymond Ng, and the blogger Mr. Leong Sze Hian were there.