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A pair of Toronto lawyers accused of embezzling nearly $7 million from real estate clients has been found in contempt of court for failing to hand over financial records and answer questions about where the money went.
Singa Bui and her husband Nicholas Cartel face penalties that could include fines or even imprisonment, and will likely also draw misconduct charges from Ontario's professional regulatory body for lawyers, two experts in professional legal discipline said.
Then, in seven home sales last fall during which the firm acted for the sellers, it didn't pay off its clients' mortgages as it was supposed to, according to lawsuits by the buyers. It took the buyers' money, paid out the home equity to the sellers, but held on to the rest, totalling $3.3 million, the lawsuits allege.
In perhaps the worst alleged embezzlement, some homebuyers who had agreed to buy a house in Toronto forwarded more than $2 million to Cartel & Bui in November toward the purchase. But within days, most of the funds disappeared from the firm's trust account, the deal never closed and the homebuyers have not recovered the money.
Singa Bui and her husband Nicholas Cartel face penalties that could include fines or even imprisonment, and will likely also draw misconduct charges from Ontario's professional regulatory body for lawyers, two experts in professional legal discipline said.
Then, in seven home sales last fall during which the firm acted for the sellers, it didn't pay off its clients' mortgages as it was supposed to, according to lawsuits by the buyers. It took the buyers' money, paid out the home equity to the sellers, but held on to the rest, totalling $3.3 million, the lawsuits allege.
In perhaps the worst alleged embezzlement, some homebuyers who had agreed to buy a house in Toronto forwarded more than $2 million to Cartel & Bui in November toward the purchase. But within days, most of the funds disappeared from the firm's trust account, the deal never closed and the homebuyers have not recovered the money.
