Richmond real estate lawyer Hong Guo, who heads Guo Law Corporation, claims that C$7.58 million is missing from the company’s trust fund since last year. On Monday this week, Ms. Guo stated that she suspects her former bookkeeper and legal assistant, who used forged cheques to steal funds from the company’s trust fund and launder the money through British Columbia casino. According to her words, the 2 suspects have been arrested in China, but the money is not likely to be returned.
At a press conference that took place this Monday, Guo Law Corporation’s Head Hong Guo announced that she conducted her own investigation to find out that two of her former employees embezzled money from the company’s trust fund. She explained that she brought the case to the court in order to obtain information regarding B.C. casino transaction records, which she presented to the Chinese police as a proof of her allegations.
Last year, Postmedia reported that Ms. Guo’s clients took legal actions against her over alleged C$2.1 million in losses. Ms. Guo, on the other hand, explained that the money is missing since March 2016 and the stolen funds will be not recovered. At the press conference, she commented that she is selling her own assets in order to compensate her customers for their losses and she hopes that this will happen by the beginning of the next year.
Ms. Guo added that her company’s reputation is harmed. As a result, her Ms. Guo’s company has become the main object of an investigation launched by the Law Society of B.C., but nothing wrong was found out. Apart from the investigation, which is reported to be completed, the Law Society of B.C. seized the abused trust fund account, which is currently kept by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
Ms. Guo’s Revelations Regarding the Case
Ms. Guo believes that her former bookkeeper and legal assistant worked hand-in-glove in an intricate scheme to abuse her trust account and steal almost C$8 million. According to Ms. Guo’s claims, the two accomplices used forged cheques to steal C$7,665,000 of her trust account. Afterwards, the money was converted to casino chips at a Lower Mainland casino and then cashed in China.
The two suspects were arrested this August in Hong Kong and their trial is scheduled to be held sometime in the first half of the next year in Macau. Ms. Guo added that the local Canadian police authority did not assist her with her investigation. Richmond RCMP officer Cpl. Dennis Hwang refused to comment the case, explaining that the investigation is currently underway.
