Lawyer found to have committed professional misconduct by being willfully blind to client mortgage fraud.
The Law Society of Ontario alleged that the respondent lawyer engaged in professional misconduct by knowingly assisting in mortgage fraud across six real estate transactions.
The respondent acted for both the borrowers and the first mortgagee bank, while simultaneously acting for private lenders registering second mortgages on the same properties, contrary to the bank's express instructions.
The respondent admitted to failing to supervise his practice, acting in a conflict of interest, and commissioning false statutory declarations, but denied knowing assistance.
The Law Society Tribunal found that the respondent was willfully blind to the obvious red flags of fraud, including the flow of secondary financing funds through his own trust account prior to the first mortgage advances.
The Tribunal concluded that the respondent knowingly assisted in the dishonest conduct of his clients and made findings of professional misconduct.
