Two men who allegedly helped Lim Tean escape to Johor charged

SINGAPORE - Two Singaporeans who allegedly helped lawyer Lim Tean leave Singapore were charged in court on Aug 8.

Lim was supposed to surrender on Aug 3 to begin his jail term for practicing law without a valid certificate.

Mohammad Adam Abd Karim, 44, and Sulaiman Muhammad Firdaus, 37, were each handed one count of engaging in a conspiracy to do an act that has a tendency to defeat the course of justice.

According to court documents, the two men had made arrangements for Lim to leave Singapore on Aug 4. No further information about what they did were provided.

Lim was arrested by the Royal Malaysia Police in Johor Bahru on Aug 6, after a warrant of arrest was issued against him for failing to turn up in court in Singapore.

A spokesperson for the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said the next day that SPF is working closely with the Royal Malaysia Police to secure Lim’s return to Singapore.

Lim was convicted of three charges under the Legal Profession Act in July 2024, and sentenced to six weeks’ jail and a fine of $1,000 in February 2025.

He had attended court hearings and submitted documents on 32 occasions between April and June 2021 while not having a valid practising certificate in force.

He later filed an appeal in the High Court against his conviction and sentence.

Prosecutors also filed an appeal for a stiffer sentence of between five and eight months’ jail.

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.

The cases against Adam and Sulaiman will be heard again in court on Aug 14.

For committing an act to obstruct the course of justice, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both.