Seven years after a former Fredericton lawyer fled the province after gambling away hundreds of thousands of dollars of his clients' money, he stood before a judge in Moncton apologizing.

"I am ashamed of everything that happened," Yassin Choukri said Friday in French, apologizing in a nearly 20-minute speech to his family, former clients, the legal profession and justice system.

Choukri spoke at his sentencing hearing, which began Friday, after pleading guilty earlier this year to stealing a total of $481,148 from his clients while serving as a private lawyer between 2014 and 2016.

It was, as Crown prosecutor Vicky Doucette told reporters, a profound fall from grace for the 56-year-old. 

"It is a cautionary tale," Doucette said. "This was a gambling addiction. It shows how high someone can be and how low they can fall. He is now a man that lives with his mother."

Crown prosecutor Vicky Doucette says there's no prospect Choukri will be able to repay what he stole. (Shane Magee/CBC)

Choukri was once a law partner of former premier Bernard Lord and served as the chief of staff in Lord's office before being appointed deputy attorney general in 2003.

He left the position in 2006 after Lord lost the provincial election. In 2010, the David Alward government appointed Choukri as the public intervener for hearings before the Energy and Utilities Board.

Doucette and defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux jointly recommended a three-year prison sentence. 

Doucette told Justice Robert Dysart that they are not seeking a restitution order, saying there's no prospect Choukri can repay the money. 

"All of the funds that he stole from his clients — they've disappeared. They belong to the casinos now," the prosecutor told reporters outside the courthouse.

"It's a situation where Mr. Choukri, he gambled with his clients' money. He lost and now he's going to have to pay his debt to society. Unfortunately, it's not going to be a monetary debt. It's going to be a period of time in a federal institution."

Gambled away client funds

Doucette outlined the facts of the crime Choukri now admits. 

She said that when Choukri resumed his private practice after leaving government, he developed a significant gambling addiction which led to considerable financial losses. 

 

Crown prosecutor describes former lawyer's 'huge fall from grace'

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As a lawyer in Fredericton he held client funds in trust accounts. 

A total of $481,148 was paid into trust accounts that clients never received. Doucette said Choukri would gradually withdraw money from the trust accounts in instalments of several thousand dollars to repay his credit card debt. 

As his gambling addiction increased, the prosecutor said, Choukri was warned by his bank that his trust account was at risk. 

Choukri, left, and defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux outside the Moncton courthouse on Friday. (Shane Magee/CBC)

In an attempt to cover the shortfall, he borrowed the maximum amount he could and deposited it in his trust account. But it still wasn't enough. 

The Crown said the money was mainly used to repay cash advances from Casino New Brunswick in Moncton.

Lemieux, the defence lawyer, said Choukri was playing poker. 

Choukri was gambling at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton, the court heard. (Gilles Landry/Radio-Canada)

On Sept. 27, 2016, two cheques drawn from the trust account bounced. On Sept. 29, 2016, he fled Fredericton without notice to his client. The Crown said Choukri considered suicide. 

Choukri was eventually found in Mississauga, Ont., where he had started a program for people with a gambling addiction.

Shirley MacLean, who served as the registrar of complaints of the Law Society of New Brunswick, told the judge that they were notified Choukri had disappeared and began investigating. 

MacLean told the judge that almost immediately it became clear there were financial irregularities. 

Shirley MacLean, the former law society registrar, outlined the organization's involvement in the case and how it was not a victimless crime. (Radio-Canada)

MacLean said trust accounts are only set up to get client funds which can only be disbursed under specific conditions. 

"One of the first rules a law student is taught is that the money in a trust account is not yours," MacLean said.

The organization that regulates the legal profession suspended his licence and disbarred him in 2017.

MacLean said she was speaking at the sentencing hearing because it was not a faceless or victimless crime, saying some of his clients had money in a trust account from injury settlements which Choukri instead spent. 

"They trusted Mr. Choukri with their money, and their hopes," MacLean said. "He deliberately misled them."

MacLean said the law society's compensation fund covered some of the losses Choukri caused.

Later in the hearing, Choukri stood and addressed the judge. 

"It really is inexcusable and I recognize it," he said. 

"I caused them troubles, embarrassment, delays and financial losses. And I am really disappointed in myself. I deeply regret all the wrongs that I have caused them, economically and otherwise."

The judge will issue his sentencing decision Dec. 19.

The Law Society of New Brunswick is questioning the time it has taken the Fredericton Police Force to investigate a lawyer who stole more than $720,000 from clients before disappearing.

Yassin Choukri was disbarred in 2017 after a discipline hearing determined he misappropriated money from 10 former clients over several years.

The law society handed its evidence over to the Fredericton police in late 2017. So far, no charges have been filed.

"Enough is enough," Marc Richard, executive director of the law society, said in an interview Tuesday. "At the end of the day, we're asking the police to move with this file."

The Fredericton police initially said it would be "inappropriate" to comment, but later issued a 600-word statement detailing the steps taken by the force.

Marc Richard, executive director of the Law Society of New Brunswick, says the case raises questions about the handling of allegations of white collar crime in the province. (Ed Hunter/CBC)

"While we respect the Law Society's position and frustration, given the multiple agencies, institutions, jurisdictions and complainants involved, the process can be slow and arduous," Martin Gaudet, the city's deputy police chief, said in the statement. 

"Our intent is to continue to pursue any criminal charges that may arise from the ongoing investigation."

Richard had said the law society didn't have a clear answer for why the investigation had taken so long. 

"It's not complicated, if the money's not there, it's a theft," Richard said. "This is not like a ponzi scheme or difficult to follow and trace the money." 

'Complex' investigation

However,Gaudet described it as a "complex" investigation that began in December 2016 when two separate fraud complaints were filed.

New Brunswick is one of several jurisdictions in Canada where criminal charges must be pre-approved by a Crown prosecutor before being laid in court.

While the investigation was ongoing, the law society disbarment hearing in 2017 led to police receiving five more files related to the overall investigation.

Fredericton Police Force Deputy Chief Martin Gaudet speaks outside the police station in August 2018 following a shooting that killed two members of the force. (Catherine Harrop/CBC)

The statement said the Crown's office in New Brunswick declared a conflict of interest and forwarded the file to the Crown in Nova Scotia for consideration. 

Police met with the Halifax prosecutor in July 2018, but charges were not approved at the time and further investigation was required.

The following month, two members of the Fredericton police were shot and killed, which Gaudet said affected staffing and led to a lapse in work on the case until January 2019.

Due to a lack of expertise in forensic accounting, the force contacted the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada and Forensic Accounting Management Group for help. 

Last fall, it was determined that more information was required. Around that time, a new investigator was assigned to the case. 

Loss 'significantly more' than first reported

Gaudet said the new investigator increased the total number of files - separate investigations under the umbrella of the overall investigation - from seven to nine. 

Gaudet said the force estimates the investigation has "increased the total loss to significantly more than was first reported" by the law society.

The Nova Scotia Crown's office this month approved orders for information from three financial institutions, the statement said. 

Gaudet said police are awaiting the information requested, which could result in a recommendation of charges once a forensic analysis is completed. 

Largest case in decades

The law society considers it one of the largest cases of misappropriation of funds by one of its members in decades.

Richard said the case raises questions about how white collar crime is investigated while people accused of minor theft face swifter action. 

Choukri was a law partner of former premier Bernard Lord and served as the chief of staff in Lord's office.

Choukri was appointed deputy minister of justice in 2003, but left government after the Progressive Conservatives lost the 2006 election. 

He was appointed the public intervenor for hearings before the Energy and Utilities Board by the Alward government in 2010. 

Choukri abandoned his legal practice and briefly disappeared in 2016.

Documents filed by the law society stated Choukri had a gambling problem and had received complimentary rooms and meals at Casino Moncton.

His whereabouts weren't known when the allegations against him first surfaced. During the discipline hearing in 2017, the law society revealed it tracked Choukri down at an apartment in Mississauga, Ont. 

Richard said Tuesday he's not sure if Choukri still lives there.

Yassin Choukri was arrested in Ontario by the Peel Regional police 12 days after a Canada-wide warrant was issued. (CBC)

Some of Choukri's clients were repaid through the law society's compensation fund, which comes out of the pockets of every lawyer in New Brunswick. That cost the law society $231,149.53. 

The society also spent more than $121,000 to hire a custodian to oversee all of Choukri's files, plus another $43,000 to investigate the case.

The law society and Canadian Lawyers Insurance Association filed a statement of claim against Choukri in September 2019 seeking more than $270,000 related to the investigation, payments to his clients and other costs. 

Choukri has not filed a statement of defence.