Singa Bui, a real estate lawyer, was handcuffed and escorted out of a Toronto courtroom on Friday afternoon (November 22) to begin a 20-day jail sentence for contempt of court. Bui, who admitted to embezzling nearly $7 million from her clients, was led away by police after Ontario Superior Court Justice William Chalmers criticized her for repeatedly ignoring court orders. Her husband, Nicholas Cartel, also a former partner at their law firm, was implicated in the case and faces an additional 10 days in jail after being unusually released early.
Fraud Scheme Spanning from 2014
Bui and Cartel’s firm, Cartel & Bui LLP, siphoned off nearly $7 million from homebuyers and sellers in Southern Ontario. At least 26 plaintiffs are suing to recover their lost funds, with many having already received favorable judgments.
In a recent affidavit, Bui confessed that she began embezzling money in 2014 from the firm’s trust accounts—a highly regulated bank account used by lawyers to hold clients’ funds, not firm funds. What started as small amounts gradually ballooned into tens of thousands of dollars at a time, used to fund extravagant purchases such as Prada bags, $12,000 shopping sprees at Christian Dior, $119,000 art pieces for their office, and lavish vacations.
Bui admitted that she and her husband lived beyond their means, using clients’ funds to finance their ‘unprofitable’ business ventures and covering luxury expenses such as private school tuition for their children, which cost around $100,000 a year, and paying $95,000 annually for two live-in housekeepers. “My husband and I lived beyond our means,” she confessed.
Bui suggested that her actions were partly due to mental health issues and her husband’s financial needs for various business projects.
Bui’s description of the scheme resembled a Ponzi scheme: “I tried to replace the money using proceeds from later real estate transactions. Over time, keeping up with the repayments became increasingly difficult, and I accumulated more debt, requiring continuous cash flow from new clients to cover it.”
Consequences and Damage
One of the victims, Nancy Marsilla, lost $220,000 after selling her house in 2021. She criticized the system for allowing a lawyer to exploit client funds for so long without being detected.
Another victim, Thierry Cohen-Scali, lost $470,000, and he was so angry after reading Bui’s affidavit that he could not finish it. “They lived lavishly on our money for 10 years and now they’re trying to portray themselves as victims,” he said. Cohen-Scali won a $470,000 judgment against Cartel, Bui, and their firm.
Bui’s and Cartel’s law licenses in Ontario have been suspended pending further investigation. Cartel has repeatedly claimed that he was unaware of any embezzlement, a claim the judge has repeatedly called “implausible.” Police are investigating and have yet to decide whether to file criminal charges, which could lead to several years in prison.
Criticism of the Legal System
This case has revealed significant loopholes in the management of lawyers’ trust accounts, with victims accusing the Law Society of Ontario of failing to prevent or respond to the fraud in a timely manner.
However, much of the embezzled money is no longer available, leaving victims with few options other than to seek compensation from the Law Society’s compensation fund for victims of lawyer fraud.
The Law Society’s compensation fund requires victims to attempt to recover the stolen funds directly from the lawyer—such as by suing them—before applying for compensation, a process that Cohen-Scali criticized as “victimizing the victims twice.”
“First, someone stole my money. Then, the Law Society system tells me, ‘You have to recover that money yourself.’ But everyone knows that the money embezzled by Bui, Cartel, and their firm is gone. I spent $60,000 on lawyer’s fees. It’s throwing good money after bad,” he said.
He pointed out that this means victims will not have to spend time or money tracking down the couple’s assets to seek restitution, and instead could start pressuring the Law Society’s special fund to assist victims of lawyer fraud.
Even so, he noted that the Law Society’s decisions on compensation are discretionary and not subject to appeal, with the maximum compensation being just $500,000. The Law Society has the authority to decide whether to approve a compensation claim, and there is no obligation to approve any valid claim; the decision is final, based on their criteria and judgment.
Meanwhile, Cartel’s early release from his contempt sentence shocked the court, and a new arrest warrant has been issued for him. Cartel is expected to return to prison on December 14 to complete the remainder of his sentence just before Christmas.
This case highlights both the gaps in the legal system and financial issues, as victims continue to seek justice and compensation from a system that critics argue has failed to protect them.
