FORT FRANCES, Ont. — The Law Society of Ontario has revoked the licence of a Fort Frances-based lawyer who misappropriated money from some clients' trust funds.
Wallace Robert Crowe's licence had already been provisionally suspended since November 2016.
A law society panel determined he engaged in professional misconduct by misappropriating $250,000 from trust funds in a mixed account between 2014 and 2016, by removing and using the money without authorization, including for his personal benefit.
The panel also found that Crowe failed to maintain proper books and records since 2012, failed to maintain sufficient balances on deposit in two mixed trust accounts in March and April 2016, and wrote cheques between March and May 2016 knowing there were insufficient funds to cover them.
At a penalty hearing Monday, the law society ordered him to pay its compensation fund $26,582 by November 2025.
The fund is used to reimburse clients who have lost money due to the dishonesty of their lawyer.
Crowe must also pay $3,000 in legal costs to the law society by November 2025.
