Richmond lawyer Hong Guo has been disbarred by the Law Society of British Columbia.
According to a statement released on Monday, a hearing panel of the Law Society Tribunal said the decision was based on Guo’s “lengthy and serious disciplinary history, consisting of numerous matters of conduct involving various circumstances dating back to 2012.”
Guo is a prominent immigration and real estate lawyer who ran for mayor of Richmond in 2018, losing. In 2016, she claimed $7.5 million was stolen from her trust account and has faced multiple allegations of misconduct.
“Four hearing panels, including the most recent, have made extensive findings of professional misconduct, including misappropriation and other mishandling of trust funds, breaches of trust accounting rules, conflicts of interest, misrepresentations and false statements to clients and the Law Society, failure to supervise staff, and breaches of undertakings and Law Society orders,” the hearing panel wrote.
“Guo’s disciplinary history is also replete with concerns about her practice and file management, competence, and ability to cooperate with the Law Society.
“Guo met many aspects of the test for ungovernability, including a lengthy discipline history, repeated breaches of undertakings, a consistent and repeated failure to respond to Law Society inquiries, and a pattern of misleading conduct directed at both the Law Society and clients.”