Kenneth M. Mcleod

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

Attorney Kenneth McLeod held a J$1,065,000 deposit paid on a property sale from November 1997 and failed to refund it despite numerous written demands and a complaint to the General Legal Council in August 1998, only repaying (without interest) in May 1999 after Fraud Squad intervention. The Committee rejected his claimed honest belief that the sale was still proceeding, inferring he had intermeddled with the money and did not have it available. He was found guilty of professional misconduct contrary to Canon I(b) and Canon VIII(d). Though no express finding of dishonesty was recorded, the Committee ordered him struck off the roll and to pay $25,000 costs to the complainant.

Duties found breached:

• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No improper use of client money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Attorney remained unrepentant and maintained a false explanation
• No contract existed to justify retaining the money
• Delay in repayment of more than 12 months
• Complaint to General Legal Council ignored
• Repayment only made after police (Fraud Squad) intervention
• Repayment made by several cheques from three banks/multiple accounts, inferring intermeddling
• Interest only repaid over several years
• Prevalence of intermeddling/fraud complaints against attorneys

Mitigating factors:

• The principal sum was eventually repaid
• Interest on the principal was eventually paid