Samuel Kwadwo Ansong Osei admitted that his actions in not making appropriate inquiries about the source or use of the funds in his trust account and providing little or no legal work on the transactions constituted professional misconduct. Osei was also found to have failed, in three instances, to comply with the requirements of Rule 7.2-9 of the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia when dealing on his client’s behalf with unrepresented persons. He and the Law Society jointly proposed that a four-month suspension and $3,500 in costs was the appropriate disciplinary action.
The sanction was determined after Osei was found to have received and disbursed over $2.1 million without providing substantial or any legal services as well as neglecting to verify the source of the funds, purpose of transactions or reason for the use of his trust account. The panel concluded that the four month suspension proposed was in line with the range of sanctions imposed in previous cases.
The full decision is available here.
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