A 73 year old Singapore lawyer has been struck off for conning a homeless woman out of her secret wealth.

Madam Chiang could only say her name and that she was a servant when she was discovered wandering the streets in 1970. Asian News One reports that Chiang spent the next 30 years being moved between Singapore hospitals and old people's homes before it was discovered in 1999 that she owned a house in the city worth almost a million dollars. Lawyer James Wan agreed to help her clear out squatters and sell the house on a pro bono basis, but according to the court his charitable impulse then "went out the window".

Wan became increasingly involved in the management of Chiang's affairs. He allowed her to give him power of attorney, and to write a will leaving everything to him rather than her four children. And when the house was sold in 2001 for $960k, she kindly gifted Wan with $460k of the proceeds.

Another client decides to give Wan their savings

Last year Wan pleaded guilty to failing to tell his client to take independent advice about making a gift. Now he has been struck off.  But Wan's desire to sort things out has, sadly, yet again fallen short. While Chiang languishes in an old people's home, he has refused to return any of the money.