Thursday, October 28, 2010

Land banking and law firm

Dear Mr. Tan
I invested $80,000 in a land banking product with a guaranteed return of 12% after one year. The company did not pay back the return and gave a lot of excuses for the delay. They have now closed their office and left Singapore. What can I do?


The lawyer acting for the land banking company is a big reputable firm in Singapore, well connected with the government. Why did the law firm act for such a shady company? Can the law firm be held responsible, if the land banking company is actually operating a scam? Surely the law firm knew about what was happening and actually helped the land banking company to avoid being caught legally in Singapore?

REPLY
I am not an expert on such matters. I believe that the Commercial Affairs Department is now investigating into '
this matter. I hope that they will look into the possibility that the law firm had acted in cohoots with the land banking company or if they were morally and ethically questinable. Although the law firm wanted to earn the large fees, they should not lend their reputation to shady or doubtful practices or to an investment scam.