{"id":396334,"date":"2026-04-25T01:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T01:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/396334\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T01:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T01:44:11","slug":"lawyer-accused-of-misconduct-for-unauthorised-bank-transfers-from-family-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/396334\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyer accused of misconduct for unauthorised bank transfers from family trust"},"content":{"rendered":"

He faces an allegation of misconduct, brought by the Standards Committee, on behalf of the New Zealand Law Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Committee prosecutor Sam McMullan said the transactions from the family trust and from his mother and parents\u2019 accounts, were for the lawyer\u2019s own benefit and in breach of his obligations as a fiduciary.<\/p>\n

He was a trustee and beneficiary of the family trust, with his sister the other beneficiary.<\/p>\n

To prove the charge, the committee needed to show that the lawyer\u2019s conduct reached a level where, at the time that he engaged in it, he was not a fit and proper person to be a lawyer.<\/p>\n

It is not alleged that he was not entitled to access the money from the trust, as the trust deed did allow for such transactions. <\/p>\n

However, he needed to have sought proper authority from the other trustee.<\/p>\n

He also accepted that with the settlement of the estate, there hadn\u2019t been any actual loss to the other beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

Lawyer says he was a \u2018man on a mission\u2019<\/p>\n

The lawyer\u2019s explanations for his actions focused on his stress, mental health and emotional turmoil as he tried to manage his parents\u2019 care in the context of a breakdown in a relationship with his sister.<\/p>\n

He said he had a \u201cvery close\u201d and loving relationship with his parents, spoke of give and take, and money moving around as he tried to do his best to meet their needs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s alleged he made three payments from the family trust account some months after his mother\u2019s death \u2013 one of $97,280, and two of $100,000. <\/p>\n

A further payment was made about a month later, of $34,736. <\/p>\n

The standards committee\u2019s case includes that the first two payments involved the man breaking a term deposit, contrary to the financial strategy outlined in minutes of an earlier trust meeting.<\/p>\n

The lawyer said at that stage he was acting without consulting the strategy, as there was a \u201csignificant asset at risk\u201d that the family had invested in.<\/p>\n

He said he was a \u201cman on a mission\u201d operating in a day-to-day \u201cpragmatic way\u201d, trying to do his best.<\/p>\n

McMullan questioned this assertion, clarifying with the lawyer that the property he was referring to was the lawyer\u2019s property, not owned by a family trust, and protecting it did not protect the financial interests of the other beneficiary, his sister.<\/p>\n

The lawyer said there were still sufficient assets for his sister, which she could take in \u201cdue course\u201d but accepted he hadn\u2019t been \u201cthinking straight\u201d.<\/p>\n

The lawyer claimed that because he didn\u2019t practise in the area of estate law, he had no more knowledge of his obligations as a trustee than a lay person. <\/p>\n

He said his emotional state and grief at the time meant he hadn\u2019t been able to carry out his duties properly.<\/p>\n

At one point, he said he had not read the trust deed when he was appointed as a trustee. He later clarified he \u201cmust have\u201d read it, but didn\u2019t specifically recall reading it.<\/p>\n

McMullan pushed back on his claim that he was lacking in the skills to carry out his trustee obligations.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a lawyer,\u201d McMullan said, before suggesting the lawyer held himself out as being involved in large-scale \u201ccriminal and civil litigation cases\u201d.<\/p>\n

The lawyer said his practice involved complex matters, but his role was more in the \u201cco-ordination and strategy\u201d \u2013 enlisting other experts and practitioners to carry out the work, particularly in civil matters.<\/p>\n

McMullan said the lawyer had known he was not allowed to make unilateral decisions without the input of other trustees, however.<\/p>\n

The lawyer agreed, but later told the panel that he had not thought his actions had \u201canything to do with the [legal] profession\u201d at the time, considering it a \u201cfamily matter\u201d, and that the administration related to the authorisation of payments could be tidied up later.<\/p>\n

As well as the trust account payments, it\u2019s alleged he used his enduring power of attorney for his parents to make six payments from his parents\u2019 accounts.<\/p>\n

There were some made from his parents\u2019 joint account \u2013 some after his father had died but while his mother was still an account holder \u2013 and two from his mother\u2019s account after she died.<\/p>\n

The transactions the prosecution was particularly concerned with were the two after his mother\u2019s death \u2013 one, made two days after his mother died, of just over $72,000, which was repaid, and another about a week later of $50,000.<\/p>\n

Again, the lawyer pointed to the stress he was under, and the money that needed to be paid for funeral expenses, as well as reimbursements for previous costs he\u2019d incurred in providing care and support.<\/p>\n

He accepted that his record-keeping had been lacking.<\/p>\n

Clarkson questioned the sums, as by her calculation it seemed the lawyer was suggesting he\u2019d spent around $250,000 on his parents\u2019 care and expenses, over the years he was providing support.<\/p>\n

She said it seemed an \u201cawfully large sum of money to have expended, because we know that as you age, you don\u2019t actually spend as much money\u201d.<\/p>\n

The lawyer said; \u201cAll I can say to that is that it does seem on the high side, but as we were going through what had been purchased, what had been recovered, where we were in terms of the care, I think that covered her care as well … the care in the rest home which I was paying. It does seem a bit high, I don\u2019t have the numbers\u201d.<\/p>\n

He then said there had been money expended \u201cprobably for 10 years or so\u201d, which he hadn\u2019t recovered.<\/p>\n

But McMullan questioned how he knew what he was reimbursing, given that he hadn\u2019t kept any receipts or records, and how he knew he hadn\u2019t \u201cpaid himself twice\u201d.<\/p>\n

McMullan told the tribunal it was \u201csignificant that [the lawyer] didn\u2019t maintain at least receipts for amounts that he was reimbursing himself … primarily from his mother\u2019s account\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, there had been what McMullan termed \u201ccreated documents\u201d \u2013 an invoice, a resolution and an acknowledgment of debt \u2013 which \u201cpoured cold water\u201d on a suggestion that the lawyer was \u201can honest muddler, finding it difficult to operate in the wake of his mother\u2019s death and the difficult relationship he had with his sister\u201d.<\/p>\n

McMullan said in the many years this matter had been before the committee and then before the tribunal, the lawyer had \u201ctaken no real steps to really explain, I suggest, has only taken steps to confuse\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is not the family court\u2019, says tribunal chair<\/p>\n

Before the lawyer gave evidence, the prosecution called the lawyer\u2019s sister as a witness.<\/p>\n

She had made the complaint to the Law Society that led to the prosecution.<\/p>\n

Because the lawyer was self-represented, he was tasked with cross-examining his own sister, and at times the hearing seemed to venture into \u201cfamily court\u201d territory, with both the prosecutor and the tribunal interjecting, raising issues of relevance.<\/p>\n

Some of the heated exchanges related to what his sister knew about the North Island property, which related primarily to the two payments of $100,000, which the lawyer allegedly made to carry out refinancing.<\/p>\n

The lawyer asked if his sister knew it was a place their late parents had visited on many occasions, taking part in \u201cworking bees\u201d, suggesting she knew it had been important to them, and had been used for family gatherings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know nothing about what went on at your property or how it was perceived,\u201d his sister replied.<\/p>\n

The lawyer\u2019s most persistent questioning focused on whether she had taken documentation, including about finances, from their late mother\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

She said she had never taken things without permission, at which point the lawyer accused her of being \u201ca chronic thief\u201d. <\/p>\n

The tribunal chair interjected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going way too far … We don\u2019t even have an evidential basis for how such documents, if they existed, would assist us,\u201d tribunal chairperson Dale Clarkson said.<\/p>\n

The lawyer moved on to ask his sister if and when she had taken a picture that had belonged to their late father.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has the taking of a picture got to do with whether payments taken by you were authorised by another trustee or not?\u201d Clarkson interjected, having pointed out, \u201cThis is not the Family Court\u201d.<\/p>\n

The lawyer replied that it was relevant to what was going on in the family dynamics at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve got a very clear view of the family dynamics,\u201d Clarkson said.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the hearing, the prosecutor said that even taking into account the lawyer\u2019s grief and difficult family circumstances, at the time he \u201cfell short of the basic standards and qualities of integrity expected of lawyers and members of our profession\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the lawyer said in closing that nothing had been taken for his own benefit or dishonestly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really around reimbursement and asset protection,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He \u201cnever turned his mind to the legal authorities attached to that action\u201d and told the tribunal it was \u201cthe absolute worst time in my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taking into account his personal circumstances, he said the prosecution\u2019s case \u201cfell short\u201d on the character test.<\/p>\n

The tribunal has reserved its decision.<\/p>\n

Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He faces an allegation of misconduct, brought by the Standards Committee, on behalf of the New Zealand Law…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1117,1643,2109,2082,71,42,20053,11518,43,1118,40,38,41,39,59379,9438,23849],"class_list":["post-396334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-accused","tag-bank","tag-family","tag-for","tag-from","tag-headlines","tag-lawyer","tag-misconduct","tag-news","tag-of","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-transfers","tag-trust","tag-unauthorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}