Two lawyers jailed for attempting to obstruct course of justice

Two lawyers who attempted to obstruct the course of justice were each sentenced to jail on Sept 30. Wee Hong Shern, 37, who had sent another lawyer, Ong Peng Boon, his direct supervisor at the time, a text message relating to contraband cigarettes in May 2019, was given seven months' jail.

Ong, 68, who forwarded the message to a third man, identified as Tan Hock Ann, was sentenced to a year in jail. Tan was arrested in August 2019 for dealing in duty-unpaid cigarettes.

In February, District Judge Marvin Bay convicted Wee and Ong of one count each of attempting to intentionally obstruct the course of justice.

Before handing down the sentences on Sept 30, the judge said: "The factual matrix, in my judgment, shows Mr Ong to have been far more deeply invested in the criminal activity than his junior colleague.

"The evidence shows Mr Ong to have maintained a tight veil of secrecy in respect of his dealings with (Mr Tan)... Given the obvious secrecy, I sense Mr Wee's involvement had been for a far shorter term."

However, Judge Bay stressed that the current case involved two legal professionals who have a duty to uphold justice and facilitate judicial processes.

He said: "They have instead exploited their privileged statuses during court proceedings to transmit and relay encrypted communications to a criminal organisation, in a bid to assist the group (to) avoid law enforcement action."