Sexting Service Purchases with Unauthorized Client Credit Card Information Draws Disbarment

A Hearing Committee Report of the Alberta Law Society finds misconduct admitted by an attorney in the misuse of credit card information stored with his law firm and ordered disbarment

In May of 2020 and again between November 2020 and March 2021, I made unauthorized use of the firm’s records of client information and credit card data for the purposes of fraudulently purchasing online sexting services from R. Co., a company operating out of the U.S. On at least 60 occasions I used the firm’s client records to enter the cardholder’s name, credit card number, expiration date, CVV and billing postal code to attempt to purchase sexting services offered by R. Co. through an online website. About 24 of those attempts were approved, so that I was able to use the sexting services.

The fraudulent client card charges for those transactions which were approved ranged in the amounts from $100 to $1,800 (USD) per client, and the total amount of transactions that were approved amount to approximately $10,000 (USD). R. Co. suffered a loss of approximately $10,000 (USD) due to the reversal of the charges by the credit card companies involved.

Because the fraudulent credit card charges were eventually reversed, the Law Society’s investigation did not reveal any clients who incurred a loss because of my misconduct. However, some clients did need to cancel or replace their credit cards that I had fraudulently used.

Also

On or around February 24, 2021, I altered a cheque that had been issued by my firm to pay a third-party vendor by inserting the number “4” in front of the original “69.78”and depositing the cheque into my personal bank account. Upon discovering this alteration on March 9, 2021, the firm alerted the bank, and the bank then reversed the transaction.

Evidence concerning the attorney

Baig grew up in Pakistan and at the time of the hearing was living with his parents in Pakistan. He is 40 years old, married and has a four year old son. He admitted to having been afflicted by addictions to pornography, sex, alcohol and cocaine. He eventually came to understand that his primary addiction is pornography and that his addictions to cocaine and alcohol are secondary addictions. His pornography preoccupation, coupled with masturbation, began in his early teens and escalated in his mid teens. When Baig moved to Canada to begin his university education in Toronto, he gained access to high-speed internet and his pornography addiction worsened. He downloaded porn videos and smoked marijuana almost daily.

Baig later attended law school in Saskatchewan where he was introduced to live camera pornography. After completing law school, Baig moved to Calgary where he began using cocaine regularly around the fall of 2013. He used cocaine to enhance his pornography experience. Baig was also seeing prostitutes.

He was admitted (“called to the Bar”) in 2015 and secured law firm employment

He regularly used cocaine, saw prostitutes, watched pornography and masturbated in his employer’s offices at night. On one occasion in May of 2020, he was seen walking in the office in his underwear in the middle of the night and was confronted by police. He confessed to them that he had been watching pornography but not that he had been using cocaine or using clients’ credit card information to purchase the online sexting services. Baig admitted that he either lied or was deceptive with the police. Video surveillance within the office brought the incident to his employer’s attention the next day. Baig made up a story and did not tell his employer that he had been watching pornography, masturbating, using cocaine and misusing client credit card information. Baig admitted that he either lied or was deceptive with his employer.

Attribution

From November 2020 to March 2021, Baig was in active addiction. He felt that he needed to watch live pornography and to consume cocaine at the same time to heighten his experience. He also consumed alcohol. He testified that he was willing to do whatever it took in order to watch the live camera pornography. Baig felt his judgement was impaired by his substance abuse. He again repeatedly used clients’ credit card information and altered the cheque while under the influence of the substances. He used the money from depositing the altered cheque to acquire more cocaine. Baig admitted that his actions breached the trust that the clients had placed in the law firm and in him as a lawyer working at the firm. He expressed remorse and admitted that what he did was harmful to the firm’s clients, his employers, his family and the profession.

Baig attributed his misconduct to his addictions but admitted that it was his decision to engage in the addictions and his decision not to deal with the addictions sooner. Baig admitted that when he was sober, he knew that using the clients’ credit card information was wrong and that notwithstanding his addictions he knew the difference between right and wrong. He further admitted that in spite of that knowledge, he did not tell his employer or the LSA of his misconduct until his unlawful activities were uncovered.

Sanction

The Committee recognizes the harsh impact of disbarment on Baig but is bound to give priority to the protection of the public and the maintenance of public confidence in the profession. The Committee also considered the impact of its decision on other lawyers struggling with mental health or addiction issues. Early reporting and treatment must be encouraged and is in the best interests of both the public and the profession. In the Committee’s view, self-reporting by a lawyer of mental health or addiction issues should be lauded and the LSA’s resources should be directed to assist the lawyer in pursuing recovery, while ensuring safe practice and the maintenance of the profession’s reputation. Self-reporting by a member ought to be a significant mitigating factor if sanctions are considered. However, when the lawyer commits misconduct over a lengthy period and seeks treatment only after they are caught and accountable for their misconduct, a less benevolent approach is warranted to encourage early self-reporting, as difficult as that may be for a lawyer suffering from a mental disorder or addiction.

(Mike Frisch)