A fraud trial for a suspended Ontario lawyer centred this week on whether TD Bank actually suffered financial harm from a bounced cheque tied to the collapse of a Toronto law firm’s trust account.
Nicholas Cartel, a class-action and litigation specialist who is representing himself in the case, faces a single count of fraud over $5,000 relating to a $300,000 personal cheque he wrote in 2023. Prosecutors allege the cheque was written to help conceal the financial collapse of the law firm he ran with his wife, Singa Bui. The cheque, drawn on a personal RBC account, bounced five days after it was deposited into a TD account belonging to the firm, Cartel & Bui LLP.
Questions Over Bank’s Loss
In the second day of testimony in provincial court in Toronto, a TD employee, Tonya Cole, was questioned by both the defence and prosecution about whether the bank incurred any loss or risk of loss — a required element for proving fraud under the Criminal Code. Cartel asked Cole whether there was a negative balance in the account at the end of the day the cheque bounced, and she confirmed there was not.
Prosecutor Dihim Emami, in re-examining Cole, suggested it was only fortunate that the firm’s trust account later had enough funds for TD to recover the $300,000, noting that had the account been depleted or had other funds not flowed in, the bank might never have recouped the money. Cole agreed that was possible.
Cartel has acknowledged writing the bad cheque but says his wife, not he, deposited it into the firm’s TD trust account and then obtained a $2.2-million certified cheque from TD to send to a client of the firm. Prosecutors allege that certified cheque could not have been issued without the top-up from the $300,000 deposit, because the trust account was already in shortfall.
Firm’s Collapse Left Clients in the Lurch
The law firm’s collapse in December 2023 left more than 25 home buyers and sellers in southern Ontario without funds ranging from $66,000 to $2.16 million — money that had either been transferred to the firm’s trust account to purchase homes or was expected as payouts after home sales.
In separate lawsuits, Bui has admitted she began taking money from the firm’s trust account as far back as 2014 to fund what she described as a “luxury lifestyle,” using a scheme in which funds from new clients covered amounts she had previously taken. Bui and Cartel bought two Toronto homes for a combined $6 million, according to court filings, and she said the money also went toward private schooling, vacations, and home and office furnishings.
A Superior Court judge overseeing more than 15 lawsuits against the couple and their former firm has questioned Cartel’s claims that he was unaware of the embezzlement until December 2023. The judge later found both Cartel and Bui in contempt of court, sentencing Cartel to 30 days and Bui to 20 days, ruling they had taken steps to hide their finances and frustrate the court.
Regulatory and Legal Fallout
The Law Society of Ontario suspended Cartel from practising law in April 2024, stating in its ruling that while it was conceivable Bui acted alone, there were reasons to believe otherwise, including that some of Cartel’s explanations were difficult to accept. Bui has since been disbarred, while the Law Society’s disciplinary proceeding against Cartel has not yet reached a final hearing.
Cartel is representing himself in the criminal trial following a falling-out with his former defence lawyer, Richard Posner. Court records from a separate dispute over Posner’s invoices show friction between the two, including disagreements over Cartel’s preparation to testify in his own defence.
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