SINGAPORE: Four law firms that breached their anti-money laundering obligations over the purchase of properties in the S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) money laundering case have been named, following the conclusion of investigations into their cases.

In an update on Friday (Aug 1), the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said it had completed the regulatory action related to the four law firms - Anthony Law Corporation, Fortis Law Corporation, Legal Solutions LLC and Malkin & Maxwell LLP. 

As such, MinLaw added it was now able to furnish more details on their conveyancing of the real estate properties seized as part of the anti-money laundering operation in August 2023. Conveyancing refers to the legal process of transferring the ownership of a property from one person to another.

Their penalties were previously made known on Jul 15, but MinLaw then did not name the four firms.

It then said 24 law practices were involved in investigations by Singapore's director of legal services (DLS) Sarala Kumari Subramaniam, supported by MinLaw, and 11 of the probes had been concluded.

As of Jul 31, 13 of the 24 law practices had been dealt with, the ministry said on Friday. 

Two more law firms - William Poh & Louis Lim, now known as Louis Lim & Partners, and Templars Law LLC were also named, as inquiries and regulatory action had concluded, it added.

With 13 of the probes having concluded, MinLaw also identified five lawyers involved in the conveyancing of the seized real estate properties. 

They are: Mr Tan Chau Chuang, Mr Andrew Wong Wei Kiat, Mr Tan Tse Chia Patrick, Mr Ee Tian Huat Patrick and Mr Poh Tian Hock William.

All have been referred to the Law Society to "consider if there are grounds for further professional disciplinary action against these lawyers".

MinLaw previously said on Jul 15 that one lawyer had been referred to the Law Society for disciplinary action, without naming the individual. While a Law Society spokesperson then confirmed that the lawyer had been referred to it for disciplinary action, it was unable to reveal the iden...