Court filing says attorney took up to $15M or more from clients, seeks freeze on bank accounts
A well-known lawyer may have improperly taken $15 million or more from clients over a several-year period, the Law Society of Upper Canada says.
In a Thursday filing in Toronto’s superior court, the group seeks a freeze on Claudio Martini’s client trust-account funds and bank accounts related to his law practice, reports the Windsor Star. The filing says at least 10 to 15 million in Canadian funds is at issue. That would amount to about $11 million to $17 million in U.S. dollars, at the current exchange rate.
The law society determined in October that Martini’s law license should be suspended for seven months for conduct concerning two clients that the 50-year-old attorney described as having happened “years ago,” the Windsor Star reported at the time. However, the suspension has been put on hold during an appeal by Martini.
This week, he was removed by his fellow partners from Shulgan, Martini and Marusic, says a notice that was circulated on Wednesday to the legal community in Windsor, the Star reports.
Martini could not be reached for comment, the newspaper says.
