Crime
The Criminal Practice comprises an exceptional team of lawyers from across our firm. We provide our clients with a single access point for representation on commercial, securities, and non-commercial crimes.
We draw our expertise from specialists across Drew & Napier’s practice groups including Banking & Corporate, Tax, Intellectual Property, and Dispute Resolution.
Our lawyers have dealt with an extensive range of criminal matters and we have experience in regulatory, trial and appeal processes. We are committed to providing support for our clients at every stage of the criminal justice process from investigations to prosecutions in court.
Our clients include major corporations, listed companies and individuals.
Experience
- Conducted appeals against the conviction and sentence of two directors of the top marine fuel oil suppliers in Singapore, who were convicted of corruption under Section 6 of the Prevention of Corruption Act arising from their role and involvement with surveyors in the supply of marine fuel oil to ships. Both cases were part of a high profile operation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore.
- Represented a lawyer who was a former independent director of Airocean, a Singapore listed company, in a landmark prosecution on corporate disclosure obligations under listing rules and securities law.
- Defended a managing director of a Singapore-listed company against alleged offences under the Securities Industry Act (now known as the Securities and Futures Act) based on charges of alleged market manipulation, and making alleged false and misleading statements in a public announcement to the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.
- Represented a multi-national company in the National Kidney Foundation related investigations commenced by the Commercial Affairs Department and the Corrupt Practice Investigation Bureau.
- Represented the former CEO of local listed company, AEM-Evertech, in a landmark whistle blower case involving corruption charges in what was termed by the media as a "landmark ruling" where the client was sentenced to the maximum fine and spared imprisonment by the Singapore courts.
- Represented one of the daughters of the late Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat in a landmark corporate governance case regarding fiduciary duties and non-disclosure under the Securities and Futures Act and Companies Act.
- Represented the former Chief Executive Officer of CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd in a corruption trial involving issues of corporate governance and alleged corruption which resulted in a rare acquittal.
- Represented Asia Pulp & Paper in relation to criminal investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department regarding allegations of cross-border commercial fraud.
- Lead counsel for the trial of a former Singapore Advocate & Solicitor in a banking fraud case involving major local banks. The amounts involved were in excess of $3 million.
- Acted for Info-Comm Development Authority of Singapore in prosecutorial work involving regulatory offences under the Telecommunication Act.
- Acted for listed company Datacraft in securities-related investigations commenced by the Commercial Affairs Department.
- Acted for StarHub Cable Vision Limited in prosecuting regulatory offences under the Broadcasting Act.
Accolades
The Asia-Pacific Legal 500
White-Collar Crime 2023 – Tier 2 for 3 consecutive years
Recommended lawyers:
Wendell Wong for 3 consecutive years
Mahesh Rai for 3 consecutive years
Gary Low for 2 consecutive years
Chia Voon Jiet
“The team at Drew & Napier is responsive and always available to respond to clients’ needs and requirements.”
Who’s Who Legal
Investigations 2023 – Global Leader
Recommended lawyers:
Wendell Wong for 3 consecutive years
Chia Voon Jiet for 3 consecutive years
Investigations 2022 – National Leaders
Recommended lawyers:
Blossom Hing for 2 consecutive years
Chia Voon Jiet for 2 consecutive years
Mahesh Rai for 2 consecutive years
Business Crime Defence 2022
Recommended lawyers:
Wendell Wong – 10 consecutive years
Gary Low – 6 consecutive years
Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific
White-Collar Crime 2023 – Highly recommended for 2 consecutive years
White-Collar Crime 2021 – Recommended for 3 consecutive years
Endorsed Individuals in White-Collar Crime:
Wendell Wong – Litigation Star in 2023 for 4 consecutive years
Gary Low – Litigation Star in 2023 for 4 consecutive years
Chia Voon Jiet – Litigation Star (2023)
The Straits Times – Singapore’s Best Law Firms 2022
Rated 4 stars for Criminal Law in the Singapore’s Best Law Firms 2022 survey by Singapore’s largest circulating broadsheet, The Straits Times, and international research company, Statista for 2 consecutive years.