Disgraced lawyer faces prison term
Former deputy attorney general, deputy justice minister Yassin Choukri, 56, admitted to taking almost $500,000 of client cash while practising law in Fredericton in 2014-16
A former New Brunswick deputy attorney general who stole hundreds of thousands in client funds seven years ago will learn days before Christmas how long his stint in prison will be.
Yassin Choukri, 56, of Riverview but formerly of Fredericton, appeared before Court of King’s Bench Justice Robert Dysart at the Moncton Law Courts on Friday for a sentencing hearing.
Choukri had originally opted for a King’s Bench trial by judge and jury trial on eight counts of fraud but this fall, he pleaded guilty instead to a single count of indictable theft, encompassing those offences.
Crown prosecutor Vicki Doucette, reading in an agreed statement of facts before the court Friday, noted Choukri established a law practice in Fredericton and had numerous clients.
As is customary in private practice, he held thousands of dollars in client funds in his trust account as part of his legal work.
Court heard Friday that in 2016, Choukri’s business partner reported Choukri had apparently left Fredericton and had abandoned his practice, and when addressing the situation, the Law Society of New Brunswick discovered his trust account - in which client funds were supposed to be held - had been emptied.
Doucette - a Nova Scotia prosecutor who was brought in to handle the case given Chourki’s former role as deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney in this province - said he took the following amounts that rightly belonged to the following clients:
$11,500$ from Milemore Holdings Ltd.,
$250,000 from Economical Insurance Group,
$918 from George Bunting,
$25,000 from Jean Marc Bélanger,
$112,500 from Sylvie Perreault,
$31,790 from Albina Stuckless,
$5,000 from Dorothy McNaughton
and $44,440 from Allan and Lucilla Wilson.
All told, he took $481,148 that wasn’t his, the prosecutor said, noting that in each instance, Choukri breached his fiduciary duties to those clients.
"The clients' money was used to repay advances of funds drawn mainly from Casino New Brunswick," Doucette said.
She and defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux offered a joint recommendation on sentence Friday: three years in prison.
The prosecution isn’t seeking a restitution order since there’s no chance Choukri will ever be able to repay what he stole.
‘He did not conduct himself with integrity’
Shirley MacLean - the province’s official languages commission - was serving as the law society’s registrar of complaints in 2016 when Choukri’s crimes came to light, and she read a victim-impact statement aloud in court Friday on behalf of the law society.
While the proceedings were conducted mainly in French, MacLean’s statement was in English.
She said it was her role to investigate complaints and facilitate compensation for clients who’d been wronged by their legal counsel.
When Choukri’s business partner advised the law society of his disappearance, MacLean said, the organization stepped in to ensure client files were protected and moved along to new counsel.
“Almost immediately, it became clear there were financial irregularities,” she said.
“No funds were remaining in Yassin Choukri’s trust account.”
The thefts from clients ranged in scope from just under $1,000 to one amounting to a quarter-million-dollar loss, she noted.
Court heard Choukri had represented the Economical Insurance Co. and had received $250,000 in funds in his trust account on behalf of the insurer.
“But the insurance company never received them,” she said.
But it wasn’t just larger corporations that fell victim to Choukri’s misconduct, she said.
There were regular people, who had mortgage money, retainers and other money with Choukri that was supposed to sit protected in his trust account, she said.
“These are not faceless incidents… not victimless crimes,” MacLean said.
The law society itself became a victim of Choukri’s actions from before and after his crimes were discovered, she said.
It was learned that after leaving New Brunswick, Choukri was living in the Toronto area, she said, but he refused to co-operate with the law society’s investigations and complaints processes.
With each complaint, she said, the law society was required to serve him with documents, which he avoided at every turn.
The organization spent almost $5,000 in process serving fees, MacLean said.
Furthermore, it paid out numerous amounts to affected clients in compensation for Choukri’s misconduct, she said, depleting it drastically.
“People trust their lawyers,” MacLean said, noting that Choukri met with clients and told them he’d guard their money or pay them much needed settlements he’d secured for them.
“He deliberately misled them … He did not conduct himself with integrity, but the Law Society of New Brunswick certainly did.”
She said Choukri did harm to the legal progression, noting he’d actually held one of the highest legal positions in New Brunswick when he served as the deputy justice minister and deputy attorney general as part of the Progressive Conservative government of Bernard Lord years ago.
But another victim’s voice was heard Friday that wasn’t damning, and instead offered forgiveness.
Among the clients whose funds were taken was Milemore Holdings Ltd., and representative Larry Fullerton read a statement to the court Friday.
“He was a good lawyer for me… He helped me on a lot of cases,” Fullerton said.
“Mr. Choukri is a good person. He helped me … I forgive him for what he has done.”
He asked Dysart to weigh the good the disgraced lawyer did over his career against the mistakes he’s made.
He said Friday morning’s proceedings marked the first time he’s laid eyes on Choukri since 2015.
“No one’s asked me for this,” Fullerton said, noting it was sad that “a distinguished career… has now gone by the wayside.”
Gambling addiction
The prosecutor noted that precedents direct that a federal prison sentence was necessary to denounce his conduct given the amount of money stolen in this case and the breach of trust Choukri committed against his clients.
She cited cases with similar circumstances that demonstrate the three-year recommendation was within an appropriate range of sentence in Chourki’s case.
Doucette said the significant amount of money taken from victims and by extension the law society and the breach of trust were aggravating factors the court had to address.
But she also acknowledged there were mitigating factors in Chourki’s favour.
The prosecutor acknowledged and Lemieux emphasized that the first-time offender’s criminal conduct was driven by a gambling addiction.
Chourki was a regular and well-known presence at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton in the years leading up to the theft and his departure from the province.
Lemieux said his client sought counselling and treatment for his gambling issue once his theft came to light.
Court heard that in addition to his trouble with the law and the self-destruction of his career, Choukri is in massive debt.
The agreed statement of facts filed with the court noted there are three outstanding civil-court judgments against him: $237,889.52 for the Bank of Nova Scotia, $228,129.07 for Canada Law Financing and $275,047.29 for the Law Society of New Brunswick.
Choukri apologized to his victims for taking the money and failing his clients, noting he was deeply remorseful and ashamed for what he’d done.
Dysart reserved his decision on sentence to Dec. 19.
Choukri remains free on conditions pending the sentencing decision.
During the complaints and disciplinary processes the law society pursued in 2017, it was determined Choukri had taken $720,000 in client funds.
Despite the fact the misconduct came to light in late 2016, it wasn’t until the summer of 2020 that the Fredericton Police Force charged him criminally.
A Canada-wide warrant was issued for Choukri’s arrest, and he was arrested in the Toronto area in August 2020.
He was escorted back to New Brunswick in police custody, but he was released on conditions in September.
Though he had been living and practising in Fredericton at the time of his crimes, among the conditions of Choukri’s release was to reside at a friend’s home in Riverview.
Many of the preliminary proceedings in the case unfolded in the courts in Moncton, for the convenience of the various parties involved, but Choukri’s jury trial was supposed to be held in the Fredericton district, where he committed his criminal actions.
However, after he pleaded guilty to the single theft count in Moncton in October, it was decided to hold the sentencing hearing at the Moncton Law Courts.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.