SINGAPORE – Lawyer and opposition politician Lim Tean, 61, was arrested by Singapore police on Aug 11 after being handed over by the Malaysian authorities.
He was detained in Johor Bahru on Aug 6 by the Royal Malaysia Police after a warrant of arrest was issued against him in Singapore.
The warrant was over his failure to surrender to the State Courts on Aug 3 to begin serving a jail term of three months and a week for practising law without a valid certificate.
Lim was convicted of three charges under the Legal Profession Act in July 2024, and initially sentenced to six weeks’ jail and a fine of $1,000 by a district judge in February 2025.
Lim and the prosecution subsequently filed appeals, and in February 2026, the High Court judge allowed the prosecution’s appeal and enhanced Lim’s sentence to imprisonment of three months and a week.
Lim was back in court in April 2026, where he was fined $30,000 in a disciplinary case over his handling of a $30,000 cheque that was meant for his client.
What are the penalties for jumping bail?
Ng Kai Ling, associate director at LIMN Law Corp, said that a failure to surrender to custody to serve a sentence could constitute a criminal offence, if done knowingly and without reasonable excuse.
The penalty is a fine or jail term of up to three years, or both.
Absconding and leaving Singapore does not mean he will receive additional charges, but it could create a legal presumption that he had no reasonable excuse for failing to surrender to custody, she added.
If he does not have a reasonable excuse, using resources that had to be mobilised to bring him back to Singapore may be an aggravating factor when the court determines the appropriate sentence.
Read Full Article At Source
