Kamloops lawyer accused of hiding cash of unlicensed cannabis company
A Kamloops lawyer is being accused of using his trust account to disguise funds paid to him from an unlicensed cannabis company.
Nickolaus Harold MacDonald Weiser is facing multiple allegations from the B.C. Law Society that he committed professional misconduct.
Weiser, who has been practicing law since 1984, stands accused of putting money paid to him personally from the proceeds of a cannabis business into his company's trust account.
"Using your trust account would conceal or disguise the source of those funds," a June 22 B.C. Law Society citation reads.
It's unclear how much cannabis-related cash was put into the trust account, but the Law Society accuses Weiser of paying $198,000 of his own funds into the trust account.
The June 22 B.C. Law Society citation says the incidents took place between January and May 2019.
Weiser is also facing another allegation that he practiced law while he was suspended.
According to an Oct. 5, 2021 B.C. Law Society citation, Weiser oversaw a real estate transaction while he was suspended in March 2021.
The Law Society said Weiser was suspended for administrative reasons.
"(Weiser) failed to cooperate in the Law Society of British Columbia’s investigation," the citation reads.
The Society accuses Weiser of ignoring more than dozen phone calls and other correspondence made to him.
Weiser also faces more allegations from the Law Society some of which date back almost a decade.
According to a Nov. 8, 2021, B.C. Law Society citation, Weiser is accused of acting in a conflict of interest when between 2013 and 2016 he jointly represented a company in which he had a financial interest and the executor of an estate.
The Law Society says Weiser prepared an $8,000 loan from the company he had a "direct or indirect" financial interest in and the executor of the estate.
Separately, in 2015, the Law Society accused him of another conflict of interest when the company he had a financial interest in lent $15,000 to another executor of an estate who was his client.
Weiser faces another allegation of a conflict of interest by jointly representing borrowers and lenders in 2015.
The lawyer also stands accused of borrowing $366,545 from a client, who was the company he had a financial interest in, between 2014 and 2016.
None of the allegations have been proven.
A hearing about the allegation Weiser worked while suspended is scheduled for Sept. 20. Hearings for the other allegations have not yet been scheduled.
READ MORE: Vernon lawyer accused of 'misappropriating' $11K from senior client
To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
