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An elderly Vancouver attorney has been disbarred by the Legislation Society of B.C. and purchased to spend additional than $10,000 for misconduct during much more than a dozen actual estate transactions that could have facilitated income laundering.

A listening to panel of the Legislation Modern society Tribunal identified that Lubomir Ihor Huculak “failed to make realistic inquiries of his purchasers in the experience of mind-boggling, objectively suspicious situation,” according to a information launch issued by the law culture Wednesday.

The assertion notes that Huculak has appealed the determination, and his disbarment might be stayed as a outcome.

THE TRANSACTIONS

The 15 real estate transactions that ultimately led to Huculak’s disbarment occurred concerning 2011 and 2015.

A lot of of them associated a customer discovered in the course of the panel’s August 2022 decision on information in the situation as “EA,” who was referred to Huculak by one more customer determined as “MK.”

In accordance to the decision, Huculak 1st met MK in 1999 even though “doing the job on some serious estate transactions.” In 2009, MK was indicted and pleaded responsible to conspiracy to visitors cocaine in the United States.

“In some publicly out there and available media reviews of MK’s 2009 criminal conviction, EA was discovered as the chief of the ‘EA Drug Trafficking Business,'” the determination reads. “The exact media reports alleged that the transnational drug trafficking business was tied to income laundering and was based mostly out of Vancouver.”

MK referred EA to Huculak in 2007, according to the decision. The law firm represented EA in an estate litigation involving a downtown Vancouver condo that was owned by EA’s then-girlfriend, who experienced lately died of a drug overdose.

That litigation – which included competing promises of possession of the apartment from EA and his deceased girlfriend’s grandmother – lasted for four years, for the duration of which time the posts about MK’s arrest and EA’s alleged felony business were being posted.

The opposing attorney in the situation told the tribunal panel that she provided the news posts in the file, but couldn’t remember if she had requested EA about them throughout his assessment for discovery.

Other allegations of criminality by EA did come to mild throughout that circumstance, in a context in which Huculak would have been aware of them, in accordance to the decision.

“At demo, (the grandmother) gave sworn evidence in assist of her belief that EA had killed her granddaughter in purchase to obtain a mortgage loan insurance plan payout on the Drake Road home,” the choice reads. “The respondent (Huculak) was current for this evidence.”

For these and other causes – such as “switching employment data and addresses” for EA and other purchasers, and payments currently being built to EA and MK for transactions they had been not element of – the tribunal panel concluded that the situation were “objectively suspicious” and Huculak had an obligation to make reasonable inquiries ahead of performing.

THE PENALTIES

The tribunal panel also discovered that, in just one of the transactions, Huculak unsuccessful to recognize and confirm his purchasers. He also misappropriated approximately $4,700 in have confidence in funds and produced a bogus invoice.

In considering what variety of sanctions would be appropriate, the panel weighed submissions from the legislation culture and from Huculak.

The law firm argued that a one particular-thirty day period suspension of his appropriate to exercise and a restriction on his right to follow in authentic estate matters would be sufficient.

He informed the panel he is in his 80s and procedures regulation portion time, and that the misconduct in problem transpired a extended time in the past.

He also offered optimistic character references and argued that his position as an honorary consul to Ukraine built it significant that he stay able to observe as a attorney in buy to supply professional bono aid to the Ukrainian neighborhood with legal and notary requires, according to the final decision on sanctions, which was issued this week.

Huculak even further told the panel that the law society had not confirmed that he had “subjective knowledge of the objectively suspicious character of the transactions,” the decision reads.

For its part, the legislation culture argued that disbarment was “the only sanction sufficient to safeguard the community fascination” and provide as a deterrent to long run misconduct, either by Huculak or other lawyers.

The society also argued that Huculak’s misconduct ought to be viewed in the context of “present-day awareness of the extent and hazards of revenue laundering in British Columbia,” according to the sanctions conclusion.

“Though there is no proof of actual fraud or funds laundering, that is entitled to minimal bodyweight in the panel’s assessment,” the determination reads.

“While it would have been much more aggravating if these kinds of evidence was identified, it is not vital to the locating of experienced misconduct that there be true evidence of fraud or revenue laundering. The panel found that the respondent’s perform established a threat to the general public to this sort of a degree that his inaction amounted to qualified misconduct. It is the generation of that repeated risk that is to be sanctioned.”

The panel purchased that Huculak be disbarred. It also requested him to spend $10,001.88 within just 1 calendar year, to partly protect the fees of the proceedings versus him.