Wednesday, November 24, 2021

College of Law data breach-College's subsidiary in Singapore may provide Singapore Law Soc members avenue for recovery of damages

COMMENT

While the College Of Law Ltd and its regulators continue to remain silent about the data breach reported by Apple Inc (see below), affected members of the Singapore Law Society seeking compensation for damages suffered by the breach  may have an avenue for the recovery of damages in the College's wholly-owned subsidiary in Singapore, COLSIN Pty Ltd:


COLSIN's directors include the College's senior management, and this is likely to provide further avenues for the recovery of damages, even if COLSIN is found to be a shell. 

That  avenue may also prove useful to members of the Bar Council Malaysia, given proximity and the arranegments that exist between Malaysa and Singapore for the enforcement of judgements. 


TO BE READ WITH 





realpolitikasia


Sunday, November 21, 2021

Apple Inc says College of Law Australia is subject of data breach but primary Australian regulator AG NSW Mark Speakman silent-Parochial interests take precedence over safety of lawyers & law students in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, other ASEAN and UK

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 




Australian regulators that oversee the operations of the College Of Law Ltd have not taken any steps to address the data leak at the College Of Law.

The NSW Legal Profession Admission Board and the NSW Department Of Justice, as well as the NSW state Attorney General, Mark Speakman SC have remained silent despite the information below being brought to the attention of Speakman and the Department Of Justice. As minister in charge Speakman is ultimately responsible. 

Meanwhile the personal details of lawyers and law students in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, other ASEAN and the UK continue to be exposed.  As with the case in Malaysia (see story below)  parochial NSW and Sydney interests have prevailed over the interests of customers.  


TO BR READ WITH 

Saturday, November 6, 2021

Apple says College of Law Australia is subject of data breach - Personal details of lawyers, law students in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, other ASEAN and UK may be affected

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 





 Apple iPhone security has informed this writer that his password for his  account at the website sso.collaw.edu.au has appeared in a data leak.

The website is owned by  College Of Law Ltd, better known as the College Of Law Sydney or College Of Law Australia.

The College has been granted permission by the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board to conduct PLT courses which it has done so for over 40 years. Its databases would contain the personal details of almost every lawyer in NSW, and many from other Australian jurisdictions. 


The College has entered into agreements with law societies in Malaysia, Singapore and the Malaysian state of Sabah pursuant to which it has invited lawyers from those jurisdictions to provide their personal details in exchange for access to the College's material. 


It has a similar agreement with the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, with a particular focus on ASEAN.
In 2019 it commenced business in the UK via wholly-owned subsidiary College Of Legal Practise Ltd, offering among other things the UK Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE).

The College has refused to answer queries about its governance and management practises. 


END 

SEE ALSO 

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Malaysia will investigate NSW AG and LPAB oversight of the College Of Law: College's Malaysian business removes protective mantle; likely to further expose LPAB Annual report exclusions



by Ganesh Sahathevan


The story below was published by the well connected Malaysian investigative new site New Malaysia Times. An investigation by all the relevant Malaysian authorities can be expected, and that will involve a forensic examination of the College Of Law Sydney.

Questions about the College's activities in Malaysia have been put by this writer to the two parties ultimately responsible for regulating the College's activities , the Attorney General NSW Mark Speakman and the Legal Professional Admission Board NSW.

The queries have been met with accusations, by the LPAB and the AG of harassment , threat and intimidation by this writer of the College's management.They have gone so far as to object to the Attorney General Malaysia being informed about the  College's activities in Malaysia
They have also excluded from the LPAB's 2018 and earlier Annual Reports , which the AG tables in the NSW Parliament complaints against the College and its management; and in particular statements on the official record that they have made in support of the College.

All the above is  now likely to be investigated in Malaysia.
END

Bar Council education ‘JV’ must be clarified

By  , in Scandal on July 19, 2019 . Tagged width:  ,  , 


KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 – The Malaysian Bar Council launched its first education venture, a LLM in Malaysian Legal Practise (LLM), last year in collaboration with the College Of Law Australia.
The LLM does not seem to have the approval of Malaysia’s Legal Professional Qualifying Board (LPQB) but the website for the course, which is hosted in Australia, prominently displays the Bar Council crest.
bar council
The crest has not been used before to promote a course of study, and queries put to Bar Council President Fareed Gafoor about the use of the crest have been acknowledged but remain unanswered.
NMT has however sighted an email from Fareed dated Friday, May 24, 2019 with regards the LLM and the use of the crest where he states:
Dear Rajen,
We can’t remain silent on this.
Abdul Fareed Bin Abdul Gafoor
Sent from my iPad
It is understood that “Rajen” refers to  Rajen Devaraj, Chief Executive Officer of the Bar Council Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur.
The Bar has remained silent for nearly 2 months since.

Key person suddenly retired during extensive query

The College of Law used to be represented in Malaysia by its Director, Peter Tritt. Tritt have been queried extensively about the LLM and about the College’s business in Malaysia but has refused to provide answers. Tritt has been based in Kuala Lumpur since 2017 but announced on Friday that he had “retired” from the College on 30 June 2019.
It is understood that Tritt has forwarded queries sent him to his head office in Sydney and hence it appears that Tritt is under orders from his Chief Executive, Neville Carter, to remain silent.

Questionable advertising claims?

In advertising on the College’s website Carter has claimed that he had established a Professional Legal Training course for Malaysian Law students seeking admission to practise in Malaysia. There seems to be no evidence of such a course, or of any national level training course for the existing Certificate of Legal Practise.
Carter has also claimed to have produced the “inaugural” Handbook in Legal Practise for Malaysia, in the late 80s. A search of the main law libraries in Malaysia directed by the Chief Registrar, Federal Court Malaysia, has not found any such handbook.
He has also claimed to have, during that time to have identified and addressed “gaps” in Malaysian legal practise, but not even those in practice during that period and since have ever heard of him. Nor are senior practitioners aware of  “gaps” that needed that to be addressed by external consultants.
As CEO of the College Carter  has ultimate responsibility for the College’s Malaysian operation headed by Tritt and variously named the “College Of Law Asia Pacific” and the “College Of Law Asia”. A search by NMT has not revealed any entities registered under those names in Malaysia or in Australia, not even a foreign entities registered to conduct business in Malaysia.
Meanwhile the College, in collaboration with the Bar Council continues to sell its LLM and other courses in Malaysia, deriving a fee income from Malaysian courses.
-NMT

See also

AG NSW justifies exclusion of foreign regulatory risks from Dept of Justice annual reports on the basis that he was threatened, intimidated by the information:The matter of Top Group has implications for all regulators (including the NSW Law Soc)

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Even Saudi Arabia considers the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist threat, but not the Australian Government - Australian Government designates The Base , but not the Muslim Brotherhood, vote chasing seems to have trumped intelligence yet again

 by Ganesh Sahathevan



                               Source: The Australian




The Arab Weekly reported in May 2020:


The Saudi ministry of education is pushing ahead with efforts to roll back Muslim Brotherhood influence in the country’s educational system.

The authorities recently decided to remove teachers who persist in teaching extremist and intolerant ideas which are inherited from the previous school curricula dominated by Muslim Brotherhood thinking.

Such ideas, they point out, run counter the current Saudi choice of cultural and religious values of openness and moderation.

The Brotherhood's leader Shiek Yusof Qaradawi and the Muslim Brotherhood are well represented in Australia. The Grand Mufti Of Australia Dr Abu Ibrahim has been reported to have links to Qaradawi (see story from The Australian above) and is a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which Qaradawi led until vey recently.




The Brotherhood has a history of instigating and organising jihadi attacks. While the Australian Government has designated The Base, it has refused to designate the Muslim Brotherhood despite its history of close to a century of terrorist activity. It appears that the fear of losing the Muslim vote has again trumped intelligence (including intelligence in the public domain).

TO BE READ WITH 













Saturday, March 27, 2021

Ann Aly's reasons for wanting The Base designated a terrorist organisation apply equally to the Muslim Brotherhood-Meanwhile BASE members and all taxpayers are entitled to clarification about her tax payer funded charity PAVE's finances, and why it is of concern to persons in Malaysia

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 


Anne Aly believes the government needs to do more to protect 
Australia's security.(ABC News: Herlyn Kaur)

From Ann Aly, according to the ABC:
"What we've seen is that The Base very much operates as a terrorist organisation in the way in which they recruit, in the way in which they communicate, the way in which they circumvent security."

It is surprising that "we've (not) seen that" the Muslim Brotherhood, which is active in Australia; is not also a terrorist organisation and that Aly and friends are not also demanding that the Muslim Brotherhood be banned. 

Meanwhile, Aly has yet to provide answers to these issues revealed in 2017, which concern he charity PAVE's financial management. The charity is funded by taxpayers.
Neither has she explained why queries from this writer about PAVE were sent to a person or persons in Malaysia. 

TO BE READ WITH 

 

by Ganesh Sahathevan 
April 9 2017 



Image result for anne aly PAVE

Anne Azza Aly


Labor MP Anne Azza Aly is founding chairperson of People Against Violent Extremism (PAVE), a charity registered with the Australian Charities And Not For Profits Commission.

 As of November 2016 PAVE's statutory filing of financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2015  remained overdue.When this was made known to media in November last year by this writer,  she responded via an email demanding to know what this writer could do to help her meet her reporting obligations (I kid you not).

When the accounts were finally lodged, the accounts showed that some AUD 210,000 in government funding was explained away in just two items; "Other Expenses" and a "Surplus",which has presumably been retained by Ms Aly.

INCOME STATEMENT

For the Period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015 (if different provide range below)
to
Income/Receipts$
Government Grants208,732
Donations and bequests2,200
Other Income/Receipts7,530
Total Income/Receipts218,462
Expenses/Payments$
Employee expenses/payments8,131
Grant and donations made by the registered entity for use in Australia0
Grants and donations made by the registered entity for use outside Australia0
Other expenses/payments118,844
Total expenses/payments126,975
Net surplus/deficit91,487

No auditor would pass this set of accounts,yet the AG 's Department seems to have done precisely that,for  PAVE has reporting obligations to the Commonwealth AG. 
As for Aly, silence prevails on all matters raised, including her connections with Malaysia.
END 



INCOME STATEMENT

For the Period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015 (if different provide range below)
to
Income/Receipts$
Government Grants208,732
Donations and bequests2,200
Other Income/Receipts7,530
Total Income/Receipts218,462
Expenses/Payments$
Employee expenses/payments8,131
Grant and donations made by the registered entity for use in Australia0
Grants and donations made by the registered entity for use outside Australia0
Other expenses/payments118,844
Total expenses/payments126,975
Net surplus/deficit91,487

BALANCE SHEET EXTRACT

Total assets0
Total liabilities0
Net Assets/Liabilities0
2015 Financial Report

"Other" in accounting terms means miscellaneous and that is how Anne Aly MP explains spending the bulk of a government grant.


Other expenses/payments118,844


The quantum of the next largest item is only $ 8,131. Consequently, more than 93% of outflows have not been identified.
The ultimate destination of the  surplus of $ 91487,or 42% of the total inflows  is also not  explained.
Therefore only 3.7 % of the total income of the charity (almost all of which is in the form of a  government  grant of about $210,000)  is accounted for.