BC’s lawyer was banned for 12 years for misusing $ 450,000 in client funds

A well-known former lawyer in Surrey, British Columbia, has been banned from practicing law for more than a decade after misusing $ 450,000 in funding sent to his client, who was then trying to immigrate to the countryside.

Mohamud Masoud Joomrati has agreed not to practice law in the province for 12 years since July 29.

Announcing its suspension on Thursday, the British Columbia Law Firm – which monitors the profession – said Joomrati violated professional boundaries while processing his client’s immigration application.

The client hired Joomratty to apply for a visitor visa in 2017 and later for a work visa in 2019.

Joomrati never confirmed whether his client actually lived in British Columbia when he applied to the federal government, according to the public.

“[Joomratty] provided information to Service Canada that the client had taken up residence in British Columbia, settled in British Columbia and moved to British Columbia when he had not exercised due diligence and there was no confirmation that these allegations were true, “read agreement .

The company also found that Joomratty had tricked an unnamed foreign bank into transferring $ 450,000 to his own trust account for an alleged purchase of an apartment for the client when “no actual purchase of condominiums was planned.”

Once the money arrived, Joomratty transferred $ 370,000 to his company. He then transferred the money to another client, the agreement said, although he eventually returned it.

The original client got a new lawyer in March 2020, who complained to the public.

The legal community found that Joomratty had acted improperly without the consent of his client, violated the requirements of a conflict of interest and did not independently confirm key information about his client before submitting documents to Service Canada.

He also found that Joomratty had made statements to a client that he “knew or should have known were false and misleading”.

Joomratty returned the money he had misappropriated and had no previous discipline in his 24-year career. He closed his business earlier this month.