Malaysian Bar To Tackle Client Fund Embezzlement By Law Firms

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Malaysian Bar president Ezri Abdul Wahab said it recently launched a new risk management model for lawyers called Elevate that aims to raise public confidence in the legal profession. (File pic)PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar says it has implemented several mechanisms to tackle the issue of law firms embezzling clients funds from trust accounts, as seen in cases highlighted by the police.
Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department (CCID) director Ramli Yoosuf previously revealed that last year, police probed 31 cases of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving law firms with losses exceeding RM35.9 million.
He said police investigated another 22 cases this year up until May 15, with losses estimated at RM19.05 million and were expecting more of such cases in the future.
Ramli said the cases happened because the firms did not need their clients’ signature to withdraw funds from trust accounts, thus exposing the said funds to misappropriation.
Responding to this, Malaysian Bar president Ezri Abdul Wahab told FMT that the Bar launched a new risk management solution called Elevate on March 16 this year aimed at tackling this issue.
“Moving forward, we are committed to continuously reviewing and improving our processes and practices to ensure public trust in our profession,” he said.
While Ezri did not elaborate on the process involved, the Bar’s I-RiskSpot circular states that Elevate, a brainchild of the Bar’s risk management committee, with the guidance of Lockton Consulting, is a new risk management programme that aims to raise public confidence in the legal profession.
It said Elevate was developed to complement the Bar’s mandatory professional indemnity insurance scheme, and is aimed at helping lawyers manage their firm’s operations, finances, files, and clients.
He said the Bar plans to further address the police’s statements concerning the issue soon, but stressed that they will not do so hastily, as they need to make sure they have all the facts right. - FMT

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