ruling released last week<\/a> by the Law Society of Ontario provides the clearest picture yet of what was happening behind the scenes before Mikhailitchenko suddenly vanished \u2014 including that she was accused of misappropriating close to $3.5 million from numerous clients.<\/p>\nThe disciplinary tribunal also found that Mikhailitchenko used her various trust accounts to facilitate \u201cdishonest or fraudulent\u201d transactions totalling tens of millions of dollars \u2014 all part of a \u201cscheme\u201d to \u201cmisappropriate or misapply funds and to enrich\u201d at least one corporate client.<\/p>\n
Although Mikhailitchenko was in contact with the Law Society at the outset of its investigation, she ceased all communication in March 2024. Police confirmed to TorontoToday that her arrest warrant remains active.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Law Society is unaware of the respondent\u2019s whereabouts,\u201d the decision reads.<\/p>\n
A resident of Thornhill, Mikhailitchenko operated her own law practice in north Toronto, near Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue. She specialized in civil litigation, family law and real estate.<\/p>\n
By late-2023, complaints about her behaviour had begun to pile up.<\/p>\n
Simply put, the tribunal found that Mikhailitchenko used her trust accounts to deposit tens of millions of dollars worth of cheques on behalf of an unnamed corporate client, then promptly paid out those funds \u2014 including portions to herself \u2014 before the cheques cleared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence establishes that the respondent knowingly permitted her trust accounts to be used for large financial transactions unrelated to legal services,\u201d the ruling reads. \u201c[She] disbursed funds from a trust account before ensuring deposits had been cleared, failed to maintain sufficient trust balances, and used other clients\u2019 funds to make up for trust fund shortages.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ruling details four specific instances in which Mikhailitchenko \u201cused other client funds to attempt to cover the shortfall.\u201d<\/p>\n
In one case, the principal of a numbered company retained her to register a second mortgage worth $526,000. Although Mikhailitchenko received the proceeds in trust, she did not advance the funds to the client.<\/p>\n
In another instance, two people retained her to act in the sale of an estate property. After the property was sold, Mikhailitchenko sent a letter to the clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe stated that the net sales proceeds of $771,302 were owing to the estate and that a cheque was enclosed,\u201d the ruling reads. \u201cNo such cheque was enclosed.\u201d<\/p>\n
All told, the tribunal found Mikhailitchenko \u201cknowingly misappropriated\u201d approximately $3.5 million from her clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe actively participated in these improper transactions and could not have been blind to the implications and the consequences,\u201d the tribunal ruled.<\/p>\n
The tribunal found Mikhailitchenko guilty of five counts of professional misconduct. A hearing to determine her punishment has not been set.<\/p>\n
For lawyers, the penalty for professional misconduct can range from a reprimand to license revocation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Law Society disciplinary hearing reveals new details about the case of Maria Mikhailitchenko, an accused fraudster wanted on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-612757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}