Mohammud Massood Joomratty

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Mohammud Massood Joomratty, a BC lawyer called in 1998, entered a Rule 3-7.1 consent agreement accepted June 16, 2022, admitting professional misconduct in his handling of a single immigration client's matter. Misconduct included misappropriating $450,000 and $370,000 in client funds, misleading a foreign bank via a false letter, providing unconfirmed information to Service Canada, multiple conflicts of interest (including an $80,000 loan using client funds), withdrawing fees without a bill, paying a $10,000 referral fee from trust to a non-lawyer, failing to provide his complete file, and making false statements to both the Law Society and the client. He undertook to resign and not practice law or reapply for 12 years. No express finding of dishonesty was recorded; the Chair noted his intentions were 'not explicitly nefarious.' No fine or costs stated.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Disclose referrals, commissions and benefits
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Misappropriation of substantial client funds ($450,000 and $370,000)
• Multiple misrepresentations to both the Law Society and the client
• Serious misconduct involving misleading a foreign bank and Service Canada

Mitigating factors:

• No prior professional conduct record
• Fulsome admissions made in an expeditious and cooperative manner
• Lawyer did not benefit personally other than retainer fees, for which he did not completely bill
• Repaid the loan of client funds
• Repaid the misappropriated funds before the Law Society investigation commenced
• Misconduct limited to representation of one client
• Intentions were not explicitly nefarious

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_suspension_months=144"]