Hwee Khoon Young

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Solicitor Hwee Khoon Young, the firm's money laundering officer, received almost $1.2 million from a new client/company over three months and disbursed it largely as cash to an introducer (GL), via her own travel agency, her private bank account and transfers to Ladbrokes, with no written instructions, no enquiries into the source of funds and no genuine underlying transaction. The Tribunal found all four allegations substantiated, including compromise of integrity and good repute, but expressly found she had NOT been dishonest—rather naive and stupid in ignoring money laundering warnings. The Tribunal declined to strike her off but found her unfit to practise and suspended her indefinitely, ordering costs of £8,351.27.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No improper use of client money
• AML and crime-prevention compliance
• No improper solicitation or touting

Aggravating factors:

• Was the money laundering officer for her firm yet ignored clear warning signs
• Received nearly $1.2 million over three months with no discernible underlying transaction
• Disbursed funds in cash and through her own travel agency (Rex Air Ltd) and her own private bank account
• Made transfers to Ladbrokes bookmaker on verbal instructions
• No instructions secured or confirmed in writing
• Made no enquiries as to source of funds
• Ignored the Royal Bank of Scotland's refusal to open accounts which mentioned money laundering

Mitigating factors:

• No dishonesty found; acted naively and stupidly rather than intentionally
• Very candid and frank in her responses and admissions
• Admitted allegations (c) and (d)
• No personal benefit beyond £1,500 incorporation fee
• Under significant work and family pressures (father-in-law's death, husband absent abroad)
• Had retired from practice and did not intend to continue as a solicitor
• Genuine remorse and apology

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["review_dishonesty_finding_cue_present"]