Image Credit: Cliff MacArthur/provincialcourt.bc.ca
June 23, 2022 - 2:00 PM
A lawyer who misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars has agreed to step away from the practice for at least 12 years.
Mohammud Massood Joomratty’s LinkedIn profile says he has been a lawyer at Massood Joomratty, Barrister and Solicitor since September 1995. Online listings show the firm is located in Surrey.
But Joomratty won’t be practicing for a while starting next month. The Law Society of B.C. published a consent agreement summary about several instances of wrongdoing to which Joomratty admitted. He has agreed to resign from the practice of law effective, July 29, and for 12 years he will not practice law or apply for re-instatement to any law society.
READ MORE: Kamloops lawyer suspended 16 months for professional misconduct
Joomratty admitted to lending $80,000 of one client’s money to another without permission from the first client. He also misappropriated the same client's funds in the amounts of $450,000 and $370,000, he took a $39,970 fee from the client’s trust funds without giving the client the bill first. He used $10,000 from the client’s trust funds to pay referral fees. He made statements to the law society and to the client that he knew were not true.
Furthermore, Joomratty completed a Labour Market Impact Assessment – a requirement to hire foreign workers – but did not confirm the documents to be true before submitting them to Service Canada. He tricked a foreign bank, by faking the purchase of a condo in Vancouver, into transferring $450,000 of a client’s money into one of his trust accounts.
The law society pointed out mitigating factors.
READ MORE: Kelowna lawyer suspended for professional misconduct
Joomratty’s actions were described as errors in judgment and the law society said intentions were not “explicitly nefarious.”
He did not personally benefit from the misconduct for the most part, he repaid the client’s money that he loaned out, he repaid the misappropriated funds before the investigation was started, and “although serious,” the misconduct was limited to one client.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dan Walton or call 250-488-3065 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.
News from © iNFOnews, 2022