3 years sought for Fredericton lawyer who gambled away client funds
CBC
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."
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."
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.
As a lawyer in Fredericton he held client funds in trust accounts.
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