K&L Gates sues former Hong Kong partner charged with forgery
A former corporate partner in K&L Gates's Hong Kong office is being sued by the firm after being arrested on charges of theft and forgery over the transfer of funds to a casino company in Macau, reports the Am Law Daily. Navin Kumar Aggarwal, who ceased to be a partner at K&L Gates on 11 June, is accused of stealing roughly $2m (£1.2m) from the accounts of RIM China and moving the funds to Wynn International Marketing last year.
August 09, 2011 at 05:20 AM
3 minute read
A former corporate partner in K&L Gates's Hong Kong office is being sued by the firm after being arrested on charges of theft and forgery over the transfer of funds to a casino company in Macau, reports the Am Law Daily.
Navin Kumar Aggarwal, who ceased to be a partner at K&L Gates on 11 June, is accused of stealing roughly $2m (£1.2m) from the accounts of RIM China and moving the funds to Wynn International Marketing last year.
He was charged on 24 June with six counts of theft and forgery and currently remains in the custody of Hong Kong police, according to local press reports.
K&L Gates brochures identify Aggarwal as the former head of the firm's corporate finance team in Hong Kong, whose practice included M&A, regulatory compliance, and securities work.
Aggarwal also was a member of K&L Gates's betting and gaming practice, and last year led a team from the firm advising ICBC International Capital as underwriter for Chu Kong Petroleum's $173m (£107m) initial public offering.
Aggarwal resigned from K&L Gates in June after being confronted with the allegations that he diverted client funds, according to a report on Bloomberg.
"[K&L Gates] takes this matter very seriously, and… such misconduct is utterly repugnant, intolerable, and wholly contrary to the firm's policies, values, and expectations," the firm said in a statement. "The firm also engaged both independent counsel and forensic accountants to conduct a full internal investigation, which is being overseen by the firm's managing partner, Asia."
A K&L Gates spokesman said that Robertsons Solicitors in Hong Kong is handling the internal investigation for the firm.
K&L Gates further stated that it will "pursue and support any and all measures – administrative, civil, and criminal – against any wrongdoer to rectify any harm that has been done and to prevent any recurrence".
Bloomberg reports that K&L Gates sued Aggarwal on 27 June for breach of trust, seeking to have Hong Kong's High Court freeze his assets. The firm itself has been the target of at least six lawsuits by clients seeking about $32m (£19.7m) in missing funds as a result of Aggarwal's conduct, Bloomberg reports.
K&L Gates is not the only major US law firm to recently run into trouble with one of its former partners. Last week former Sullivan & Cromwell M&A partner John O'Brien pleaded guilty to charges that he failed to pay $2.8m (£1.7m) in federal taxes.
Last year, a former Duane Morris and DLA Piper partner in Singapore, Rudy Lim, was sentenced to one day in jail and ordered to pay a $10,000 (£6,170) fine after being found guilty of forging pay slips in a bid to increase his annual compensation when switching firms.
The Am Law Daily is a US affiliate title of Legal Week.
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