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A Kelowna lawyer has been fined $5,000 for failing to verify the identity of several clients.

According to a recently published Jan. 4 Law Society of B.C. decision, Kelowna-based lawyer Daniel E. Spelliscy failed to verify the identity of two clients that he provided legal services for.

Since 2015, the Law Society of B.C. has mandated that lawyers verify the identity of clients if providing legal services with respect to a financial transaction.

"In one matter, Spelliscy failed to verify the identity of an individual client and did not meet with that client in person (i.e. a non-face-to-face financial transaction), and in a second matter did not verify the identity of an individual client or the company owned/operated by that client," the Law Society decision reads.

The Law Society says Spelliscy, who has been practicing since 1994, paid the $5,000 fine Jan. 4 and has "therefore been deemed to admit" the misconduct.

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Separately, a lawyer in Golden has also been fined $5,000 for much the same misconduct.

Bruce L. McKenzie, who has been practicing since 1984, did not correctly verify the identity of three clients.

"Specifically, for one client who was located in Canada, when using government identification to verify that client’s identity, McKenzie failed to do so in the physical presence of the client... McKenzie also relied on electronic copies of identification documents to verify the client’s identity," a Feb. 16 Law Society of B.C decision says.

"In two other client matters, where the clients were located outside Canada, although McKenzie did retain an agent to verify client identity, in the first case McKenzie failed to obtain a copy of the documents used by the agent to verify client identity... and, in the second case, McKenzie failed to ensure that the agent verified the client’s identity in accordance with the Rule(s).

The law regulator says McKenzie paid the $5,000 fine Feb. 16 and is therefore deemed to admit the misconduct.

READ MORE: B.C. lawyer fined $10K for talking to client about evidence during court proceedings

No other details are given in the decisions.

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