SINGAPORE: Lawyer and opposition politician Lim Tean has been declared bankrupt, according to a notice published in the government gazette on Friday (Apr 10).

The bankruptcy order was made effective on Apr 2.

He will have his bankruptcy estates managed by trustees Lau Chin Huat and Yeo Boon Keong of Technic Inter-Asia, the notice stated.

Lim, a veteran lawyer with more than 30 years of practice, is also the founder of the Peoples Voice party and the secretary-general of the People's Alliance for Reform, a grouping of opposition parties.

Lim was fined S$30,000 (US$23,500) on Friday over his conduct in handling a former client’s money.

Even after he was discharged by the client, Lim was found to have received or retained a cheque of S$30,000, which had been the interim payment of the settlement sum to the client.

He was found to have failed to pay the sum into the client account of his firm, breaching the Legal Profession (Solicitors' Accounts) Rules.

Lim is to pay the penalty within 14 days of the judgment, as well as costs of S$12,000.

Additionally, the Court of Three Judges on Friday rejected the Law Society of Singapore’s (LawSoc) bid to have him struck off the roll.