For a practising lawyer, his Clents' Account must be fully accounted for. A separate bank account is opened for the purpose of receiving monies from legal transactions, awaiting transfer to the rightful recipients like sellers in a Sale and Purchase Agreement. The legal firm is allowed to earn interest from the balance in the account. Auditors carrying out audits on solicitors' clients' account are supposed to be uncompromising to ensure full compliance with the requirements of the law. The lawyer can fool around with his own Office Account, but any money relating to legal transactions of his clients, cannot be touched under any circumstances.
Can we trust a candidate for a State Assembly election who cannot be entrusted with Rm161,000? I will leave it to the electorate of Permatang Pasir to form their own opinion and vote wisely.
Spotted this in Malaysia Today:
Clarification regarding UMNO Candidate for Permatang Pasir By-election, Rohaizat Othman
Tuesday, 18 August 2009 17:17
In response to inquiries from the media, we wish to clarify Rohaizat Othman’s status as an advocate and solicitor.
The Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board struck Rohaizat Othman off the Roll of Advocates and Solicitors on 7 March 2008 after he was found guilty of misconduct. The Disciplinary Board’s decision arose from an investigation into the complaint lodged against Rohaizat Othman by the purchaser of a piece of real property. According to the complaint, Rohaizat Othman failed to refund almost RM 161,000 to the complainant after the transaction was aborted.
Rohaizat Othman appealed against the decision of the Disciplinary Board to the High Court, and the appeal was dismissed on 12 August 2009. He is therefore legally disqualified from practising as an advocate and solicitor.
The finding of misconduct is personal to Rohaizat Othman, as the Disciplinary Board would not hold a lawyer liable for the actions of his/her law partner(s).
George Varughese
Secretary
Malaysian Bar
Link
BN appears to have run short of men with integrity. And of course, there are plenty of those opportunists masquerading as people with the intention to serve the society!
ReplyDeleteThey probably mistook 'integrity' to mean: as long as 'greed' is 'intact', then it suits their purpose to the 'T'!
ReplyDelete