SINGAPORE, Nov 10 — A former Singapore lawyer has been sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison for cheating a company director into transferring more than S$8 million (RM25.6 million) to a firm he deceitfully created in the British Virgin Islands, The Straits Times reported.

Then Feng, 43, was convicted in August after a trial on 16 charges, including multiple counts of cheating and forgery. 

According to The Straits Times, the court heard that Then had tricked Andrew Ling Hui, a director at Providence Asset Management, into believing he was dealing with international law firm Walkers.

While employed by Walkers, Then secretly incorporated a similarly named company, Walkers Professional Services, in the British Virgin Islands in 2015. 

He copied the law firm’s branding and logo, later claiming it was a “tongue-in-cheek insider thing” done in “good fun”.

By 2018, he convinced Ling that Walkers could provide escrow services for cryptocurrency transactions and that payments would be held in a legitimate company account. 

Believing the services were offered by the real Walkers, Ling wired over S$8 million to Then’s firm instead.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei told the court that Ling had acted in good faith, while Then was “dishonest, evasive and disingenuous” during the trial. 

Tan argued that it was implausible for an experienced corporate lawyer to find such conduct “amusing”, especially after concealing his fake firm from his employer.

Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan ruled that Then had intentionally misled Ling into believing he was transacting with Walkers, The Straits Times said.

Then, who was later dismissed by Walkers after his deception was uncovered, intends to appeal both his conviction and sentence. 

He still faces additional forgery charges to be dealt with at a later date.