Paralegal License Revoked
The Ontario Law Society Tribunal Hearing Division has revoked the license of a paralegal
The Licensee was licensed as a paralegal in 2015. She was administratively suspended on March 31, 2017; which was in place until we ordered the revocation of her licence. Until November 2017, the Licensee and her mother operated an organization with non-profit status known as ARR Organization, Inc., also known as Afghanistan Refugee Relief Organization, Inc. (ARR), the stated purpose of which was to sponsor families seeking to settle in Canada.
On February 8, 2018, the Licensee was arrested and charged with defrauding the public and with possession of the proceeds of crime. This arrest followed an investigation by the Peel Regional Police Fraud Bureau into allegations by 47 victims. The complainants alleged that they had been defrauded after tendering approximately $800,000 in total to ARR, with the aim of obtaining resettlement in Canada with ARR’s assistance.
The Licensee was convicted of these charges on February 24, 2023. On January 12, 2024, she was sentenced by the Honourable Justice S. Martins of the Ontario Court of Justice to a period of three-and-one-half years of incarceration. At no time did the Licensee report these criminal charges to the Law Society, as its Rules and By-Laws require.
Sanction
Had there been only one client of ARR who was defrauded, this would have been sufficient to justify revocation. In this application, there were over 40 instances of fraud, and the amounts are significant. There is another finding of misconduct in addition to the criminal conduct. All of this reinforces the necessity of immediate revocation: Gorman, above at para 51. Needless to say, in the absence of any defence or indeed participation by the Licensee, there was no evidence of circumstances that could warrant a penalty other than revocation.
(Mike Frisch)
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