A prominent former Surrey, BC lawyer has been banned from practicing law for more than a decade after he misused $ 450,000 in funds sent to his client, who was then trying to emigrate to the province. .
Mohammud Massood Joomratty has agreed not to practice law in the province for 12 years from July 29th.
Announcing his suspension Thursday, the Law Society of BC, which oversees the profession, said Joomratty had violated professional boundaries while handling his client’s immigration application.
The client hired Joomratty to apply for a visitor visa in 2017 and later a work visa in 2019.
Joomratty never confirmed whether his client actually lived in BC when he filed proceedings with the federal government, according to the company.
“[Joomratty] provided information to Service Canada that the client had rented a place in British Columbia, had settled in British Columbia and had moved to British Columbia, when he had not exercised due diligence and had no confirmation that such statements were true “. read consent agreement.
The company also found that Joomratty tricked an unnamed foreign bank into transferring $ 450,000 to its own trust account for the alleged purchase of a condo for the customer, when “there was no actual condo purchase planned.”
After the money arrived, Joomratty transferred $ 370,000 to his company. He then passed the money on to another customer, the deal said, though he eventually returned it.
The original client obtained a new lawyer in March 2020, who complained to the company.
The Bar Association found that Joomratty acted improperly without the consent of its client, violated the conflict of interest requirements, and did not independently confirm key information about its client prior to filing the documentation in Service Canada.
He also found that Joomratty made statements to a client that he “knew or should have known they were false and misleading.”
Joomratty returned the money he misappropriated and had no disciplinary record in his 24-year career. He closed his company earlier this month.