High-flying lawyer goes on trial for writing bad cheque allegedly to cover for collapsing firm
Lawyer Nicholas Cartel is on trial for fraud, accused of writing a $300,000 bad cheque to cover a shortfall in his firm's trust account. The case follows a larger embezzlement scandal involving his wife and former partner, Singa Bui.
Why it matters
Highlights legal accountability and the systemic risks associated with trust account mismanagement in law firms.
Nicholas Cartel, 62, faces one count of fraud over $5,000 based on allegations that he deliberately wrote a bad cheque for $300,000 in an attempt to cover up a shortfall in the trust account at Cartel & Bui LLP, the firm he ran with his wife.
The alleged fraud occurred in February 2023, when Cartel & Bui LLP was handling a property sale for a client. The law firm needed to pay out $2.22 million in proceeds to the client but didn't have sufficient funds in its trust account because Bui had been embezzling money from it for years, according to her own evidence in a separate civil case .
Bui is facing 32 criminal charges in a separate case stemming from the embezzlement.
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