Source: Straits Times; Date: 06 Mar 2012; Author: K C Vijayan
THE currently high price of gold has helped the victims of rogue lawyer David Rasif to recover about 60 per cent of the monies they lost to him.
Rasif, who fled after swiping $11 million from clients' accounts in June 2006, had used $1.64 million of his loot to buy 47 1kg bars of gold, which he subsequently tried to dispose of in various ways.
Of the 47 bars, the 40 traced intact by police are now worth $71,000 each - considerably more than the $35,000-per-bar price he paid back then.
Gold prices started climbing in 2006. At the current prices, the 40 bars have put $2.84 million into a pool to be divided among the victims of Rasif, who is now on Interpol's 'wanted' list.
Five bars remain untraced and another two bars have been recovered as loose gold nuggets. Besides the gold bars, cash was found in bank accounts in Hong Kong, Vietnam and here.
High Court Justice Tan Lee Meng yesterday gave the go-ahead for the total proceeds recovered, amounting to more than $7.4 million, to be distributed among the 56 claimants. The sum represents about 65 per cent of the $11.3 million lost; it is what is left after deduction for certain legal and administrative costs related to the recovery process.
Goldsmiths Yeah Hiang Nam and Tay Poh Thai will get to retain the 1.9kg of loose gold nuggets which they had bought on the market through intermediaries, unaware that the nuggets were traceable back to the bars Rasif bought.
Worth $137,400, the nuggets had been seized by the Commercial Affairs Department for its probe. They had stood to be part of the pool for distribution, but the goldsmiths can keep them, provided they put 25 per cent of the cash value into the pool.
The Law Society, represented for free by lawyers Patrick Ang and Nigel Pereira of Rajah & Tann, got the court's approval for the proceeds to be shared among the claimants in a manner that is in proportion to their losses, with each on equal footing.
The sum will be shared on the basis that claimants would recover a percentage of their losses corresponding to the percentage of the total $11.3 million that was recovered.
The legal costs to be deducted include the HK$500,000 (S$80,600) Mr and Mrs George Zage spent to recover the US$2.6 million (S$3.3 million) Rasif had deposited in a Hong Kong bank account. The American couple lost the most among the claimants - about $10.6 million which they entrusted to Rasif in a property deal.
At yesterday's hearing were lawyers representing various parties. Closure is expected on the case in a month if distribution proceeds as planned.
Lawyer R.S. Bajwa, representing businessman Prakasa Alim, who lost $445,500 to Rasif, said: 'There was a collective sense of responsibility among lawyers who handled this matter. Rajah & Tann, in acting for the Law Society, was very noble in waiving fees and did an excellent job in handling the matter to its conclusion.'
The Law Society was made a trustee of the assets by court order in 2009, pending the outcome of how the items are to be disposed.
Source: Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Permission required for reproduction.
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