A former partner at DLA Piper in Singapore has been sentenced to two months in jail for lying about his annual compensation, reports The Am Law Daily.

Rudy Lim, who was based at DLA's Singapore arm for several years, handling project development and finance work, joined US firm Duane Morris in late 2006 in anticipation of the firm opening a Singapore office.

As reported by the Am Law Daily last November, Lim falsely inflated his DLA salary in an effort to get Duane Morris to match the amount. When DLA employees reviewing electronic records on Lim's computer found a forged payroll statement – Lim claimed his monthly drawings at DLA were $65,000 (£43,000) when they were actually $25,000 (£17,000) – the firm alerted local authorities.

Lim's forged statement boosted his annual compensation from $300,000 (£200,000) at DLA to $780,000 (£521,000) at Duane Morris. The payslip also stated that his profit share as a fixed-share equity partner at DLA was $150,000 (£100,000) in 2005, when in fact he had no such arrangement with the firm, according to The Straits Times.

After learning that he was being investigated by Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department, Lim resigned from Duane Morris in May 2007.

In March 2008, Lim, who was born in Indonesia and is of Chinese extraction but was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales, became the subject of a disciplinary review by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The SRA released a report in August 2008 finding that Lim deliberately created a false document to help him in salary negotiations with Duane Morris. According to the report, Lim previously worked at Baker & McKenzie and White & Case. He made partner at DLA in February 2006 and chaired the firm's Indonesia practice.

Lim represented himself at the review, claiming he did not intentionally forge the pay statement and that such accusations should not affect his professional standing. However, The Law Society disagreed and disbarred him.

The Straits Times reports that Lim was found guilty of forgery by a Singapore judge after a three-day trial in mid-March. The judge ruled that as a lawyer, Lim should have known that forging a document and providing false and misleading information to his employer was wrong, according to The Straits Times.

In Singapore, a forgery conviction carries with it a sentence of up to seven years in prison and a fine. The Straits Times reports that Lim is appealling his conviction and remains free on $80,000 (£53,000) bail posted by his father.

This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on americanlawyer.com.