Saturday, January 17, 2009

Attorney On Trial For Forgery, Criminal Breach Of Trust For Allegedly Duping 85-Year Old Man Out Of $160K In Bogus Mortgage Investment Deal

In Barrie, Ontario, the Toronto Sun reports:
  • An 85-year-old investor stood up in the witness box yesterday and told the court that a lawyer is a "criminal" who duped him out of $160,000 in a fake mortgage scheme. "All that he told me was a bunch of lies," said Sam Klaiman, after a full day of questioning in the witness box.

  • On trial is Barrie-area lawyer Myles McLellan, 55, who is facing eight criminal charges including forgery and criminal breach of trust. Klaiman, a wealthy investor who started up his Toronto based business, Homark Real Estate Ltd., in 1936 at the age of 13, testified that he trusted McLellan because he is a lawyer. [...] The trial is expected to continue for two weeks.

For more, see 'Criminal' lawyer in dock on fraud charges.

For more, see Mistrial declared in fraud trial (Crown doesn't buy suspect's argument).

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For those in Canada, if a Canadian attorney, in the course of representing you, screws you out of money or property through dishonest conduct, click on your province on the Canada Client Protection Funds Map to contact the appropriate Law Society Client Compensation Fund about filing a claim to seek some reimbursement for your losses.

For those in the United States, see: