A LAWYER who reported himself to the police was jailed for 44 months on Friday for criminal breach of trust and cheating.

The amount Leong Wai Nam, 41, misappropriated and cheated between late 2005 and early last year was about $93,000.

A lawyer of 14 years' standing, he admitted earlier to five counts of misappropriating $56,600 and one charge of cheating involving $4,300.

Ten other CBT charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing.

The court heard he worked in various law firms between 1998 and 2007. After leaving his last law firm, Regional Law, he did not register himself as a lawyer with any law firm. His practising certificate expired in March last year.

The court heard that in 2006, he entered into a profit sharing arrangement with his friend and former colleague, Mr Benjamin Ang, at Engelin Teh Practice.

Under the verbal arrangement, Leong would liaise with the client and relay the instructions to Mr Ang who would carry out the necessary legal work.

If the client needed to be represented in court, Leong would go to court.

The court heard that he represented various clients in matrimonial and other disputes between 2005 and 2007.

After collecting fees from them, he pocketed the money instead of putting them in the clients' accounts.

In one case, he duped a businessman of $4,300 by making him believe that he was still in practice and would act for him in a civil case.

Pleading for leniency, Leong's lawyer Leonard Loo said Leong had partially paid back $25,000 before he surrendered himself in 2007.

Counsel said Leong had learnt his mistakes and knew he could never fully make amends for his wrongs.

Leong, he said, is likely to face a second round of disciplinary proceedings from the Law Society.