Law firm director dies one day before going on trial; charges abated

The 61-year-old Singaporean’s obituary stated that he died on Oct 22. His charges were abated the next day, which was to be the first day of his trial.

Mr Dhanaraj was a director at James Selvaraj law firm, but his details could not be found on Oct 24 in a search on lawyers on the Ministry of Law website.

According to court documents, he was acting as an attorney for one Mr Velmurugan Ramesh when he allegedly misappropriated the $4,000 between March and April 2020.

Mr Dhanaraj was also accused of entering into an agreement with a third man, David Raj Daniel Krishnan, 51, on or around June 21, 2019.

Mr Dhanaraj allegedly agreed that David would be indemnified against any liability which the latter might incur while acting as a surety to a bail bond for Mr Velmurugan – an offence under the Criminal Procedure Code.

Court documents did not disclose details about Mr Velmurugan’s case or the relationship among the three men.

David’s case is still pending.