Woman admits to providing legal services when she could not practise law due to bankruptcy
Woman admits to providing legal services when she could not practise law due to bankruptcy
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 27 May 2025
Author: Samuel Devaraj
Helen Chia Chwee Imm charged two victims for her legal services despite losing her ability to practise law.
Despite losing her ability to practise law because of bankruptcy, a woman charged two victims, including a friend who was going through a divorce, for her legal services.
Helen Chia Chwee Imm, 55, who has since been struck off the roll, pleaded guilty on May 26 to a cheating charge and another charge of pretending to be authorised to act as an advocate and solicitor under the Legal Profession Act.
Two other similar charges will be taken into consideration during her sentencing on May 30.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Tay said that Chia, who was admitted to the roll of advocates and solicitors of the Supreme Court in 1999, had a bankruptcy order made against her on Dec 15, 2016.
She therefore did not have a valid certificate to practise law from Dec 17, 2016.
Chia met her first victim for a consultation on Dec 19, 2016, after the woman had e-mailed her. They discussed legal issues concerning the woman's care and custody of her son.
Subsequently, and without Chia's involvement, the woman and her son's father signed an agreement to manage aspects of their child's life amicably.
But on Aug 24, 2017, the woman contacted Chia again after disputes with her son's father resurfaced. She told Chia that she wanted to formally engage her as her lawyer.
Chia agreed, concealing the fact that she did not have a practising certificate.
After collecting $2,000 in legal fees, Chia gave her client legal advice, including helping her strategise on how to deal with her son's father.
In a court application filed on Nov 9, 2017, Chia indicated that another lawyer was the solicitor in charge of the case, deliberately excluding her own name.
It was only on Dec 18, 2017, after the woman asked Chia to attend a mediation session with her, that Chia revealed she was an undischarged bankrupt.
Then on Jan 10, 2018, Chia told her that her bankruptcy annulment had been sorted out, stopping short of saying that the bankruptcy had not yet been annulled.
DPP Tay said Chia deliberately gave the woman the misimpression that she had set aside her bankruptcy order, and continued communicating with the victim to give legal advice and update her on the status of her case.
In total, Chia collected $13,685.60 from the woman.
Some time around Feb 12, 2018, Chia's friend asked her to act as her lawyer in her divorce proceedings and her plan to apply for a personal protection order.
They met on Feb 13, 2018, and Chia reviewed her friend's divorce papers and personal protection order case file.
Her friend then formally engaged Chia, who did not inform her that she could not practise, to represent her in the divorce proceedings.
Chia told the friend about the follow-up steps and quoted her legal fees of $20,000, saying it was a 'friend' rate – a third of what she would usually charge.
After receiving a $3,000 deposit from her friend, Chia gave her legal advice and did a host of legal work for her.
On Chia's advice, an application for an expedited personal protection order was filed on behalf of her friend.
Chia enlisted another lawyer to attend the court mentions for this expedited order matter.
On May 2, 2018, Chia's friend was dishonestly induced into paying her $23,000 as legal fees.
DPP Tay said she would not have paid had she known that Chia was not authorised to act as an advocate and solicitor.
Chia's bankruptcy order was annulled on May 22, 2018, and she was allowed to practise law again.
But a disciplinary tribunal was appointed after a complaint of misconduct was made against her.
It was only in June 2021 that Chia's friend found out from an article in The Straits Times about the tribunal that Chia had been a bankrupt and had no practising certificate when she was representing her.
On Oct 26, 2021, the tribunal found that there was cause for disciplinary action against Chia, and on Aug 15, 2022, she was struck off the roll of advocates and solicitors by the Court of Three Judges.
In January 2025, Chia made full restitution to the two victims of the legal fees paid to her.
DPP Tay asked the court to sentence Chia to between six and 12 months' jail.
She said Chia's offence against the first victim was deliberate and premeditated, and that she had abused her position of trust as the second victim's purported lawyer and friend.
Chia's lawyer, Mr Nicholas Narayanan of Nicholas & Tan Partnership, asked for a fine, saying that at the time of the offences, Chia was suffering from depression due to two incidents involving two other clients, including a woman she was representing in 2015 whose child was killed by the father.
Mr Nicholas said the father had been violent to the mother but not the son, so Chia had advised and persuaded the mother to give the father overnight access to their son.
The father killed the child during his access time, and Chia blamed herself for it.
Mr Nicholas said: 'With the benefit of hindsight, our client realised that she was struggling with her mental health (after the incidents), but she did not know better.
'It was also around that time when she was struggling to maintain the firm solely with her team of seven staff. The bankruptcy happened solely because she stopped caring.'
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
Print
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Singapore Law Watch
a day ago
- Singapore Law Watch
Jail for ex-lawyer who provided legal services while barred from practice due to bankruptcy
Jail for ex-lawyer who provided legal services while barred from practice due to bankruptcy Source: Straits Times Article Date: 31 May 2025 Author: Shaffiq Alkhatib Helen Chia Chwee Imm pleaded guilty to two charges – one count each of cheating and pretending to be authorised to act as an advocate and solicitor. A former lawyer was sentenced to six months' jail on May 30 after she charged two victims for legal services, even though she had been barred from practising law due to bankruptcy. On May 26, Helen Chia Chwee Imm, 55, who has since been struck off the roll, pleaded guilty to two charges – one count each of cheating and pretending to be authorised to act as an advocate and solicitor. Two other charges were considered during her sentencing. Before handing down the sentence, District Judge James Elisha Lee said the overriding sentencing consideration for offences under the Legal Profession Act is the need to protect the public. He added that stiff sentences are warranted for such offences. Judge Lee also noted that defence lawyer Nicholas Narayanan earlier told the court that Chia had depression due to incidents involving two other clients. One of them was a woman she represented in 2015, whose child was killed by the father. The judge said that while he empathised with Chia, there was a 'lack of clarity' on whether there was a contributory link between her mental state and her current offences. In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Tay said that Chia was admitted to the roll of advocates and solicitors of the Supreme Court in 1999. However, she did not have a valid certificate to practise law from Dec 17, 2016, after a bankruptcy order made against her earlier that month. Despite this, Chia met her first victim on Dec 19, 2016, for a consultation after the woman e-mailed her. They then discussed legal issues concerning the woman's care and custody of her son. Subsequently, and without Chia's involvement, the woman and her son's father signed an agreement to manage aspects of their child's life amicably. But on Aug 24, 2017, the woman contacted Chia again after disputes with the man resurfaced. She told Chia that she wanted to formally engage her as the lawyer. Chia agreed, concealing the fact that she did not have a practising certificate. After collecting $2,000 in legal fees, Chia gave her client legal advice. In a court application filed on Nov 9, 2017, Chia indicated that another lawyer was the solicitor in charge of the case, deliberately excluding her own name. It was only on Dec 18, 2017, after the woman asked Chia to attend a mediation session with her, that Chia revealed she was an undischarged bankrupt. In total, Chia collected nearly $13,700 from the woman. Separately, some time around Feb 12, 2018, Chia's friend – the second victim – asked her to act as the lawyer in her divorce proceedings and her plan to apply for a personal protection order. They met on Feb 13, 2018, and Chia reviewed her friend's divorce papers and personal protection order case file. The friend then formally engaged Chia to represent her in the divorce proceedings, and the latter did not say that she could not practise. Instead, Chia told the friend about the follow-up steps and quoted her legal fees of $20,000, saying it was a 'friend' rate – a third of what she would usually charge. After receiving a $3,000 deposit from her friend, Chia gave her legal advice and did a host of legal work for her. Chia also enlisted another lawyer to attend the court mentions for this expedited order matter. On May 2, 2018, the friend was dishonestly induced into paying her $23,000 as legal fees. Chia's bankruptcy order was annulled on May 22, 2018, and she was allowed to practise law again. But a disciplinary tribunal was appointed after a complaint of misconduct was made against her. In June 2021, Chia's friend found out from an article in The Straits Times about the tribunal that Chia had been a bankrupt and did not have a practising certificate when she was representing her. On Oct 26 that year, the tribunal found that there was cause for disciplinary action against Chia. She was struck off the roll of advocates and solicitors in August 2022. In January 2025, Chia made full restitution to the two victims of the legal fees paid to her. She is now out on bail of $80,000 and is expected to begin serving her sentence on July 21. Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times' court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts. Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. Print 150
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Unease intensifies as FBI chief Patel ousts top officials
Mr Kash Patel (pictured) and his deputy Dan Bongino quickly restock senior ranks with agents and turn the agency's attention to immigration. PHOTO: AFP WASHINGTON – Before being confirmed as the director of the FBI, Mr Kash Patel made clear his intent to remake it in his own image, reflecting a larger desire by the White House to bend the agency to its will. 'The FBI has become so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken,' he wrote in his book 'Government Gangsters,' asserting that the top ranks of the bureau should be eliminated. Behind the scenes, his vision of an FBI under President Donald Trump is quietly taking shape. Agents have been forced out. Others have been demoted or put on leave with no explanation. And in an effort to hunt down the sources of news leaks, Mr Patel is forcing employees to take polygraph tests. Taken together, the moves are causing worrisome upheaval at the FBI, eliciting fear and uncertainty as Mr Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino quickly restock senior ranks with agents and turn the agency's attention to immigration. Their persistent claims that the bureau was politicised under previous directors, in addition to their swift actions against colleagues, have left employees to wonder whether they, too, will be ousted, either because they worked on an investigation vilified by Trump supporters or had ties to the previous administration. The actions have obliterated decades of experience in national security and criminal matters at the FBI and raised questions about whether the agents taking over such critical posts have the institutional knowledge to pursue cornerstones of its work. 'The director and I will have most of our incoming reform teams in place by next week,' Mr Bongino wrote on social media last week. 'The hiring process can take a little bit of time, but we are approaching that finish line. This will help us both in doubling down on our reform agenda.' He added that the agency would revisit past investigations, like the 2022 leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion on abortion, cocaine found two years ago at the White House and pipe bombs found near the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021. (Two of the cases were not the FBI's to start – the Secret Service investigated the cocaine and the Supreme Court marshal the leak of the draft opinion.) 'The director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest,' Mr Bongino said, oddly referring to the pipe bombs as a potential act of public corruption rather than domestic terrorism. In his previous role as a podcast host, he insisted, without offering evidence, that the pipe bombs were 'an inside job' and that 'the FBI knows who this person is'. The FBI typically does not talk about investigations, and Mr Bongino's statement did little to dispel perceptions that he and Mr Patel are eager to rehash years-old right-wing grievances by revisiting episodes that have angered conservatives aligned with the president. Their actions have fuelled the same criticism they levelled at the bureau under the Biden administration: that the FBI is becoming weaponised. This article is based on interviews with nearly a dozen current and former law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The FBI, which typically does not respond to questions involving personnel, did not provide comment. Former and current FBI officials warned that the attempts by Trump loyalists to mold the bureau to their worldview could ultimately have a chilling effect on agents seeking to open cases that could upset Trump or his base. They added that they viewed many of the personnel moves as retribution. Mr Patel and Mr Bongino have sent a clear message on previous FBI investigations that focused on Mr Trump or his allies. In essence, former officials said, nobody is above the law except Mr Trump. In recent weeks, the FBI disbanded the Washington field office's elite federal public corruption squad, which was best known for investigating Mr Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, among other sensitive inquiries involving prominent government officials. The move, former and current agents say, suggests that investigations involving Mr Trump could be out of bounds. Those extend to inquiries that might ensnare senior Trump officials who used the Signal messaging app to discuss highly sensitive details of military strikes on Yemen in advance. The platform is not an approved, secure means of communicating sensitive national defence information. When new leaders take office, they inevitably want to put their own stamp on an agency. But some departures amount to a significant loss in expertise, including the abrupt retirement of an official running an office established in 2020 to uncover and reduce the risk of misuse of national security surveillance, arguably one of the bureau's most important intelligence gathering tools. Others, including a recent round of forced retirements and transfers, veer from traditional processes, former officials said. The bureau's webpage detailing the agency's leadership roles is in disarray, with employees who have left still listed as working there. Mr Patel has put other officials on administrative leave with pay, including two men who dealt with issues related to Hunter Biden's laptop, which Republicans have long insisted shows evidence of politicalisation. One of the men had already been disciplined for his work examining ties between Mr Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia before Mr Patel took over as director. 'Anyone out there who thinks we have not taken appropriate action against political actors, you – they're just making that up,' Mr Bongino said on 'Fox and Friends' last week. 'We can't go out and advertise this stuff.' Addressing the broader challenge of overseeing the bureau, Mr Bongino described the demands of making 'big, bold changes'. 'Part of you dies a little bit when you still see all this stuff from behind the scenes.' One FBI lawyer was removed from a key job overseeing human resources and notified while on medical leave. Others have been forced out of jobs, typically with no explanation. A succession of top agents, all women, were given an ultimatum: Take a different post or be asked to retire. A senior agent, who was until April in charge of intelligence at the Los Angeles field office, was asked to relocate to the FBI's campus in Huntsville, Alabama – where former officials said she would take on fewer responsibilities – or to retire. Similar scenarios have played out in San Diego; St. Louis; Jacksonville, Florida; and in Birmingham and Mobile, Alabama; as well as the Washington field office. In at least some cases, people were told to go because they held their positions at the director's discretion. It is not clear how Mr Patel is reaching these decisions, but former FBI officials say such removals would typically be set off by conduct that warranted being investigated or adjudicated, like a bad inspection or reports of misconduct. Under previous directors, special agents in charge, who typically lead field offices, were rarely removed. By one estimate, more than a half dozen were asked to transfer or face a demotion. Another wave of agents has been promoted to fill major jobs at headquarters and run field offices around the country, including St. Louis; Newark, New Jersey; Phoenix, Indianapolis and San Diego. Former officials praised some of the choices while they viewed others as less inspiring. To help fill those roles, Mr Patel has made exceptions, elevating assistant special agents in charge to the top spot at field offices. Such agents have not ascended to lead a section at headquarters – long considered the requisite to become a top agent in the field. In another unusual instance, he brought back a retired senior agent to oversee the counterterrorism division, which is typically stocked with a deep bench of veterans qualified to run it. Other agents and at least one top analyst have retired rather than risk being targeted by FBI leadership for causes embraced by conservative critics of the bureau. Testifying before senators about his agency's budget request in recent weeks, Patel said retirements were routine but did not affect the FBI. 'The good news is from the folks that I've met in the bureau, we've been able to retain significant levels of senior leadership both in Washington and throughout the country,' he said. The FBI's increasingly pervasive use of the polygraph, or a lie-detector test, has only intensified a culture of intimidation. Mr Patel has wielded the polygraph to keep agents or other employees from discussing a number of topics, including his decision-making or internal moves. Former agents say he is doing so in ways not typically seen in the FBI. Even though it is not admissible in court, a polygraph can be a powerful tool in supporting a criminal investigation or serious allegations of misconduct. Mr Jim Stern, who conducted hundreds of polygraphs while an FBI agent, said he used the tool in criminal and counterintelligence investigations and on applicants and security issues. Mr Stern said that if someone violated policy, the FBI could polygraph them. But if an agent who legitimately talked to the news media in a previous role had to take one, he said, 'that's going to be an issue'. 'I never used them to suss out gossip,' he said. At a recent meeting, senior executives were told that the news leaks were increasing in priority – even though they do not involve open cases or the disclosure of classified information. Former officials say senior executives, among others, were being polygraphed at a 'rapid rate.' In May, one senior official was forced out, at least in part because he had not disclosed to Mr Patel that his wife had taken a knee during demonstrations protesting police violence in the District of Columbia in 2020. The veteran agent retired, but not before passing a polygraph as part of Mr Patel's efforts to stanch leaks. He quickly found a job in the private sector. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Straits Times
Guatemalan ex-paramilitaries sentenced to 40 years each in Maya Achi rape trial
Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin GUATEMALA CITY - A top Guatemalan court on Friday sentenced three former paramilitaries each to 40 years in prison after they were found guilty of raping six Indigenous women between 1981 and 1983, the bloodiest period of the Central American nation's civil war. The trial against the former members of the so-called Civil Self-Defense Patrol, armed groups recruited by the army, began four months ago. "The soldiers arrived late at night, threw me onto the ground and raped me," Paulina Ixpata, a Maya Achi woman, said during the trial, recounting how she was held for 25 days by the military patrol. "That's how the whole night went." This is the second trial in the so-called Maya Achi case, and follows reports of sexual violence filed between 2011 and 2015 by 36 victims against former military personnel, military commissioners and civilian self-defense patrol members. The first trial, which took place in January 2022, saw five former patrol members sentenced to 30 years in prison. They remain incarcerated. In 2016, a Guatemalan court sentenced former two military officers for holding 15 women from the Q'eqchi community, who are also of Maya origin, as sex slaves at the Sepur Zarco military base, a landmark case that marked the first convictions in Guatemala of military officers for wartime rape. Both officers were sentenced to a combined 360 years in prison, where they remain incarcerated. The court also stipulated a reparations program, whose progress remains limited despite advocacy by the 15 women who were at the trial, known as the "Grandmothers of Sepur Zarco." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
