Khushpal Singh Taunk

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

Khushpal Singh Taunk entered a Rule 3-7.1 consent agreement, approved May 11, 2023, admitting professional misconduct for failing to record 15 general transactions within 30 days and for maintaining $327,185.90 of his own funds in his pooled trust account, exceeding the $300 permitted. The delays in recording invoices and withdrawing fees led to under-reporting of GST and PST. The Chair found the conduct was not motivated by dishonesty and no client funds were at risk. The Lawyer agreed to pay a fine of $25,000.

Duties found breached:

• No improper use of client money
• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Prior conduct review in 2004 regarding cash handling and trust accounting
• Two prior referrals to Practice Standards (2003 accounting practices, 2019 quality of service)
• Prior 2008 finding of professional misconduct with one-month suspension
• Delayed recording invoices between 699 and 1,588 days
• Under-reporting of GST and PST to tax authorities

Mitigating factors:

• No misappropriation of client funds
• No client monies involved or exposed to risk
• Conduct not motivated by dishonesty or personal benefit
• Cooperative with Law Society and made early, fulsome admissions
• Revised billing and accounting practices after retaining an expert
• Outstanding GST and PST paid with interest and penalties