Citation issued: July 26, 2021
Bijan Ahmadian
Citations are authorized by the Law Society of BC's Discipline Committee and list allegations against a lawyer that will be considered at a discipline hearing. Please note that allegations in a citation are unproven until a discipline hearing panel has determined their validity.
Nature of conduct to be inquired into:
1. On or about January 30, 2020, in the course of representing your clients PM and VS in a real estate transaction, you misappropriated or improperly withdrew $23,216 from your pooled trust account when you submitted or authorized the submission of an authorization for the automatic withdrawal of Property Transfer Tax to the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia when there were insufficient funds on deposit in your pooled trust account to the credit of these clients, contrary to one or more of Rules 3-63 and 3-64(3) of the Law Society Rules.
This conduct constitutes professional misconduct or a breach of the Act or rules, pursuant to s. 38(4) of the Legal Profession Act.
2. Between May 2017 and May 2020, you improperly withdrew or authorized the improper withdrawal of client trust funds on one or more of the twelve occasions set out in Schedule “A”, when there were insufficient funds on deposit in your pooled trust account to the credit of the respective client(s), resulting in trust shortages, contrary to one or more of Rules 3-63 and 3-64(3) of the Law Society Rules and rule 7.2-12 of the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia.
This conduct constitutes professional misconduct or a breach of the Act or rules, pursuant to s. 38(4) of the Legal Profession Act.
3. Between May 2017 and May 2020, with respect to one or more of the trust shortages referred to in allegation 2 of this Citation:
(a) you did not immediately eliminate the trust shortages, upon discovery of the shortages, contrary to Rule 3-74(1) of the Law Society Rules; and
(b) you did not immediately, or at all, report trust shortages greater than $2,500 to the Executive Director, contrary to Rule 3-74(2) of the Law Society Rules.
This conduct constitutes professional misconduct or a breach of the Act or rules, pursuant to s. 38(4) of the Legal Profession Act.
4. Between July 2019 and April 2020, you failed to maintain accounting records in accordance with the provisions Part 3, Division 7 of the Law Society Rules, in one or more of the following ways:
(a) between July 2019 and March 2020, on one or more of the six occasions set out in Schedule “B”, you failed to prepare monthly trust reconciliations for your pooled Bank of Montreal trust account within 30 days of the effective date of the reconciliation, contrary to Rule 3-73 of the Law Society Rules;
(b) between July 2019 and April 2020, on one or more of the two hundred and fifty seven occasions set out in Schedule “C”, you failed to record trust transactions promptly, or in any event, not more than seven days after a trust transaction, contrary to Rule 3-72 of the Law Society Rules; and
(c) between July 2019 and April 2020, you made or authorized withdrawals from your trust account(s) when your accounting records were not current, contrary to Rule 3-64(3) of the Law Society Rules.
This conduct constitutes professional misconduct or a breach of the Act or rules, pursuant to s. 38(4) of the Legal Profession Act.
5. On or about May 15, 2019, you borrowed, or caused a company owned and controlled by you, to borrow some or all of $30,000 from your client YK, contrary to rule 3.4-31 of the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia.
This conduct constitutes professional misconduct, pursuant to s. 38(4) of the Legal Profession Act.
6. On or about May 23, 2019, you borrowed, or caused a company owned and controlled by you, to borrow some or all of $240,000 from your client MS, contrary to rule 3.4-31 of the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia.
This conduct constitutes professional misconduct, pursuant to s. 38(4) of the Legal Profession Act.
7. On or about January 30, 2020, in the course of representing your clients PM and VS in a real estate transaction, you breached an undertaking you gave in a letter to J Law Corporation dated January 24, 2020, by registering transfer documentation, when you did not hold in your trust account sufficient funds to allow you to complete the transaction, contrary to rule 7.2-11 of the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia.
This conduct constitutes professional misconduct, pursuant to s. 38(4) of the Legal Profession Act.
8. On or about January 30, 2020, in the course of representing your clients PM and VS in a real estate transaction, you issued trust cheques for disbursements and the payment of sale proceeds to the opposing party, when there were insufficient funds on deposit in your pooled trust account to the credit of these clients, contrary to one or more of Rules 3-63 and 3-64(3) of the Law Society Rules and rule 7.2-12 of the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia.
This conduct constitutes professional misconduct or a breach of the Act or rules, pursuant to s. 38(4) of the Legal Profession Act.