Decision record
Baldev Singh Ghag
Allegation / charges
Rule 4-29 Admission of Misconduct and Undertaking | Summary
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
Baldev Singh Ghag, a BC real estate lawyer called in 1985, was criminally convicted on January 10, 2019 of wilfully evading federal income tax of $418,865.66 by failing to report over $1.28 million in taxable income for 2005-2008. He received a criminal fine of $418,865.66 and a 22-month conditional sentence. He admitted the funds were intentionally diverted through his law corporation's trust and general accounts to reduce reported income. Under Rule 4-29, he admitted professional misconduct, agreed to resign from the Law Society effective November 8, 2019, and undertook for 10 years not to practise law or seek re-admission in Canada, with the matter recorded on his professional conduct record.
Duties found breached:
Aggravating factors:
- Misconduct continued over many years (2005-2008), a repetitive and ongoing crime
- Respondent is a lawyer who should have known better
- Intentional intermingling of corporate, trust and personal accounts to reduce reported business income
- Large amounts: unreported income of $1,284,254.81 and federal taxes evaded of $418,865.66
Mitigating factors:
- Guilty plea to the criminal charge
- Admission of professional misconduct under Rule 4-29
- Prior attempt to file a voluntary disclosure with the CRA