WHEN lawyer Rayney Wong handed a referral fee to a private investigator posing as a property agent at a meeting four years ago, it was apparently not the first time he had done so.

Captured on video talking to who he thought was another property agent, Mr Wong claims he had offered kick-backs to property agents for referring clients to him before.

Senior Counsel Michael Hwang who was acting for the Law Society in its disciplinary case against Mr Wong before the Court of Three Judges on Tuesday, cited this as an aggravating factor and asked for a 15-month suspension to be imposed on him.

Mr Wong's lawyer, Senior Counsel Sant Singh, however argued that the Law Society had filed only one charge and did not proceed with the other allegations and it should not be considered now in sentencing,

The three judges - Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, Justices of Appeal Andrew Phang and V.K. Rajah - eventually suspended Mr Wong for 15 months.

Mr Wong, a lawyer for 24 years, had earlier pleaded guilty to offering kick-backs to Ms Jenny Lee, a private investigator posing as a property agent.

She had been part of a group of investigators hired by several lawyers to check if competing law firms were offering fees to estate agents.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.