Law firm Mills Oakley is being sued over accusations it fell for an email scam and lost almost $1 million of a client’s money.
Prominent Singapore businessman and real estate mogul Harry Chua hired Mills Oakley to act for him to buy an apartment in the Aurora Melbourne Central development in La Trobe Street in the city’s CBD.
Last December, someone purporting to be Mr Chua’s personal assistant emailed the firm asking: “Can you please confirm the total amount of excess funds we have with you in your trust account? Regards Janice.”
A legal assistant wrote back, confirming there was $928,687.07 in a trust account, Mr Chua’s new lawyers from Gordon Legal alleged in documents filed before the Victorian Supreme Court.
