Glenn Knight
Glenn Jeyasingam Knight | |
---|---|
Born | 1945 (age 78–79) |
Alma mater | National University of Singapore |
Occupation(s) | Prosecutor (former) Lawyer (current) |
Spouse | Pathmavali Rengayah |
Glenn Jeyasingam Knight (born 1945) is a Singaporean lawyer. He was the first Director of the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD)[1] when it was founded in 1984.[2] He lost his post in 1991 after being convicted of corruption in a much-publicised trial.[3] In 1998, he was again tried and convicted for misappropriating money while in office.[4]
Background
Knight was a student of Anglo-Chinese School. In the 1990s, he was the vice-chairman of its Old Boys' Association[5] and a member of its board of governors.[6] He obtained his bachelor of laws degree from the National University of Singapore in the 1960s, and played the guitar in a jazz band to raise money for his tuition fees.[3][7]
He joined the
Knight is married to Pathmavali Rengayah. The couple have no children.[3]
Notable cases
In 1978, Knight was the
First investigation and trial
On 23 March 1991, Knight was suddenly replaced as CAD director by Senior State Counsel
In a district court on 29 September 1991, Knight pleaded guilty to cheating then managing director of
Knight appealed against the sentence, and in March 1992 he managed to get his sentence reduced to a $17,000 fine and a day in prison.[36] He served the jail sentence and paid the fine on the day it was announced.[37] In deciding to reduce the sentence, High Court Judge L.P. Thean said that a "nominal custodial sentence" was sufficient given the mitigating circumstances in Knight's case.[38] In April, all charges against his wife in relation to his case were also dropped.[39]
Aftermath of first conviction
Although the sentence meted to him was eventually reduced, the corruption case had left permanent damage on Knight's career as a civil servant. After investigations on him began in March 1991, he faced disciplinary hearings and his services were terminated on 26 March 1992.[40] The President also revoked the prestigious Public Administration Medal, Gold, that had been awarded to Knight.[41] In August 1994, the High Court struck Knight off the roll of advocates and solicitors, meaning that he could no longer practise law.[42] After being disbarred, Knight worked as a consultant in a public-listed company.[43]
Second investigation and trial
In 1998, Knight was again charged in court—this time with criminal breach of trust by misappropriating money totalling $4,200 when still the CAD's Director on two occasions, in 1989 and 1990.[44][45] This second charge caused Knight to resign from his job.[43]
During the trial, the defence argued that the proceedings were invalid as Knight had been granted immunity by the
Aftermath of second conviction
The second conviction left Knight even worse off than before. The company he was working for before his second trial refused to re-employ him. Jobless, he engaged himself in community work in his church, Covenant Community Methodist Church, and often visited a pub in Boat Quay of which his wife was a partner.[3] He faded quietly from public life.[50]
On 25 April 2007, he re-appeared in the news when he filed an application seeking court approval to be reinstated as a lawyer. His application was granted on 22 May 2007, making him only the sixth lawyer to be reinstated in the Law Society of Singapore's 35-year history.[51][52] He later joined the law firm Bernard & Rada Law Corporation.[53]
One of Knight's cases in court after his reinstatement was the Stirling Road murder of 2007. Knight, together with three other lawyers, represented odd-job worker Tharema Vejayan Govindasamy, who was charged with murdering his ex-wife Smaelmeeral Abdul Aziz by flinging her off the 13th floor of a HDB block in Stirling Road, Queenstown. Knight and the rest of the counsel argued that Tharema should not face the gallows for murder on the account of a delusional disorder that made Tharema believe he was under the influence of black magic that caused his marriage to end with a divorce and his relationship with Smaelmeeral to break down. Subsequently, the trial court rejected the defence's contention and therefore found Tharema guilty of murder, and sentenced him to death in May 2009.[54][55][56]
In 2012, Knight penned his memoir, titled The Prosecutor: Glenn Knight, which recorded his life, legal career, as well as his downfall and later return to legal practice. Several of his well-known cases, including the
Notes and references
- ^ "CAD 'Doing Well in Dealing with White Collar Crime'". The Straits Times. 22 September 1990.
- ^ Business Times Singapore.
- ^ a b c d Tan, Ooi Boon; Lim Seng Jin (20 September 1998). "Fall of a Crime Buster – From Bungalow to Three-Room Flat". The Straits Times.
- ^ a b Lim Seng Jin (3 September 1998). "Knight jailed for a day". The Straits Times.
- ^ "ACS' New Home Geared for 1990s". The Straits Times. 4 November 1989.
- ^ "Prominent Old Boys to Head ACS Board". The Straits Times. 8 November 1989.
- ^ "The Rise and Fall of the Two Ks". The Straits Times. 30 December 1991.
- ^ a b "Law Enforcer Got a Taste of Own Medicine". The Straits Times. 20 September 1998.
- ^ "Asian Journal Editor Delivers Apology to Singapore Court". The Wall Street Journal. 19 November 1985.
- ^ a b "A Judge in Singapore has Committed Mr Tan Koon Swan for Trial in the High Court on a Single Charge of Abetting in the Commission of a Criminal Breach of Trust". Lloyd's List International. 15 August 1986. p. 10.
- ^ "In Singapore, Mr Tan Kok Liang, Finance Director of Pan Electric Industries, Yesterday Pleaded Guilty to Two Charges of Committing Breach of Trust, in which Mr Tan Koon Swan was Alleged to have Abetted Him". Textline Multiple Source Collection (1980–1994). 5 February 1986.
- ^ "International Corporate Report: Businessman Pleads Guilty in Failure of Pan-Electric". The Wall Street Journal. 26 August 1986.
- ^ "Mr Peter Tham Wing Fai, a Former Director of Pan Electric Industries, has been Arrested in Singapore and Charged with Two Counts of Criminal Breach of Trust and Three Counts of Forgery". Textline Multiple Source Collection (1980–1994). 16 April 1986.
- Business Times Singapore. 10 June 1989. p. 7.
- ^ Davidson, Ben (12 September 1989). "Allan Ng Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading". The Straits Times.
- ^ Davidson, Ben (17 September 1989). "Allan Ng Gets a Year's Jail". The Straits Times.
- ^ "Swimmer David's 'Biggest Prize'". The Straits Times. 9 August 1990.
- ^ "SINGAPORE'S WHITE-COLLAR CRIME BUSTER UNDER INVESTIGATION". Reuters. 24 March 1991.
- ^ Gerry de Silva (24 March 1991). "Glenn Knight questioned by CPIB". The Straits Times.
- ^ Conrad Raj. (28 May 1991). "Glenn Knight arrested". Business Times Singapore.
- ^ David Miller (28 May 1991). "Glenn Knight arrested by CPIB". The Straits Times.
- ^ "SINGAPORE COURT CHARGES EX-WHITE COLLAR CRIME-BUSTER". Reuters News. 29 May 1991.
- ^ "SINGAPORE COMMERCE ADMINISTRATOR CHARGED WITH FRAUD". Kyodo News. 29 May 1991.
- ^ "The charges in detail AGAINST GLENN KNIGHT". Business Times Singapore. 30 May 1991.
- ^ "What the eight charges are". The Straits Times. 30 May 1991.
- ^ "Glenn Knight's trial brought forward to September this year". Business Times Singapore. 2 July 1991.
- ^ Elena Chong (2 July 1991). "Knight's trial brought forward to this year". The Straits Times.
- ^ Conrad Raj (9 July 1991). "Mrs Knight and three others arrested on fraud charges". Business Times Singapore.
- ^ "SINGAPORE CHARGES FOUR IN GLENN KNIGHT CASE". Reuters News. 9 July 1991.
- ^ Gerry de Silva (10 July 1991). "Glenn Knight's wife charged with fraud and corruption". The Straits Times.
- ^ "SINGAPORE'S EX-CHIEF CRIME BUSTER PLEADS GUILTY TO CHEATING". Reuters News. 30 September 1991.
- ^ "Former top crimebuster gets three months prison term". Agence France-Presse. 3 October 1991.
- ^ IAN STEWART (4 October 1991). "Jail for former crime buster". South China Morning Post. p. 13.
- ^ Selva Kumar (4 October 1991). "Knight gets three months' jail term". Business Times Singapore.
- ^ Gerry de Silva (4 October 1991). "Glenn Knight sentenced to three months' jail". The Straits Times.
- Business Times, Singapore. 7 March 1992.
- ^ "Thank God, he says as he hugs the Bible after hearing". The Straits Times. 7 March 1992.
- ^ In his judgment, Thean J. said, "I consider that the imposition of the nominal custodial sentence is appropriate in this case; I do not consider it at all a farce. It signifies that in the court's view, the appellant must suffer a custodial sentence, albeit a nominal one, and also that, but for the very strong mitigating and other circumstances in his favour, a substantive term of imprisonment would have been meted out to the appellant": see Knight v. Public Prosecutor, op. cit. at para. 28. See also Charmaine Chan (7 March 1992). "Trial judge 'Erred in Grouping all Commercial Crimes in One Category'". The Straits Times.
- Business Times, Singapore. 11 April 1992. "Rest of Charges Against Three Dropped". The Straits Times. 11 April 1992.
- ^ Gerry De Silva (7 May 1992). "Glenn Knight no longer in civil service". The Straits Times.
- ^ "Glenn Knight's N-Day Gold award revoked". The Straits Times. 7 June 1992.
- Business Times, Singapore. 1 September 1994. Elena Chong (1 September 1994). "Glenn Knight Struck Off the Rolls". The Straits Times.
- ^ a b "Ex-DPP – A Noted Crime-Buster". The Straits Times. 16 June 1998.
- ^ "Former Singapore crime buster charged in court". Reuters News. 2 April 1998.
- ^ Conrad Raj (3 April 1998). "Glenn Knight charged with CBT". Business Times Singapore.
- ^ Lim Seng Jin (16 June 1998). "Glenn Knight case an "abuse of legal process'". The Straits Times.
- ^ Tan Ooi Boon (17 June 1998). "Probe was "upsetting', says Knight – No missing funds or dishonesty, says Knight". The Straits Times.
- ^ Tan Ooi Boon (18 June 1998). "Probe on Knight based on "tip-off'". The Straits Times.
- ^ Tan Ooi Boon (23 June 1998). "Judge gives go-ahead for Knight's trial". The Straits Times.
- ^ HELEN CHIA (20 June 1999). "How far will society go to forgive those who fail?". The Straits Times.
- ^ K.C. Vijayan (25 April 2007). "Ex-CAD chief Glenn Knight seeks return to practising law". The Straits Times.
- Channel NewsAsia.
- ^ K.C. Vijayan (22 June 2007). "Ex-CAD Chief to Join Law Firm". The Straits Times.
- ^ "HUBBY CHARGED WITH STIRLING ROAD MURDER". TODAY. 5 July 2007.
- ^ "Public Prosecutor v Tharema Vejayan s/o Govindasamy [2009] SGHC 144" (PDF). Singapore Law Watch. 19 June 2009.
- ^ "Man to hang for throwing wife from 13th floor". The Straits Times. 26 May 2009.
- ISBN 978-9814408806. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
- ^ "The Newsmaker: On his run-in with the law, former star DPP Glenn Knight: I am not infallible". The Straits Times. 11 May 2017.