A Law Society of B.C. tribunal has disbarred former Richmond business and immigration lawyer Hong Guo for a third time, following a finding of professional misconduct against her stemming from nine citations since 2018.
Guo did not show up to her disciplinary hearing last May and is purportedly in China, according to her son, to take care of “business opportunities” in addition to medical treatment for mental health concerns.
Should Guo return to Canada she will be arrested and imprisoned for contempt of court, after an arrest warrant was issued against her last May by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gordon Weatherill. Guo had repeatedly failed to produce financial documents at the request of the court, in relation to a civil lawsuit filed against her by former clients.
Guo has now faced disciplinary action in five of her nine cases.
In short, tribunals have found Guo misappropriated funds to complete business transactions, had conflicts of interest with clients, made misrepresentations to society investigators and was generally found to be "ungovernable."
On May 1, a tribunal found Guo practised law while suspended.
'Varied discipline history'
A spokesperson for the society confirmed Guo's third disbarment is not without precedent; other lawyers have met a similar fate.
However, the panel in this case noted: “It is difficult to imagine a more lengthy or varied discipline history than the respondent’s. Many of the findings of misconduct against the respondent are extremely serious.”
A previous tribunal explained the reason for pursuing multiple disbarments and continuing with proceedings against former society members is “to assure the public and the profession that the consequences of misconduct cannot be avoided simply by resigning from the law society. It also provides a record in the event that a member applies to renew their membership or to practise law in another jurisdiction.”
Guo is a University of Windsor law graduate and former legal specialist for the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, the executive branch of the National People’s Congress run by the Chinese Communist Party.
Guo ran a busy law practice in Richmond, specializing in real estate transactions and immigration applications for wealthy Chinese clientele via the Provincial Nominee Program. She once claimed to media she conducted about $600 million worth of transactions annually.
Richmond mayoral candidate
No stranger to publicity, Guo ran for mayor in Richmond in 2018, and has been keen to share her political engagements online.
In 2016, prior to running for mayor, Guo claimed her bookkeeper stole $7.5 million from her trust account using blank cheques she signed and left unsupervised in their possession (prompting a one-year suspension).
At the time, Guo had already faced two practice reviews and two conduct reviews in the previous four years, including referring out all new criminal, family and litigation files.
In one misconduct case against her, Guo claimed the society was prejudiced against female Asian lawyers. And Guo claimed her suspension would have a harmful impact on the Mandarin-speaking community. A tribunal dismissed Guo’s claim as one without evidence and merit.
Prior to this hearing, Guo owed the society more than $108,000 and in this case she was ordered to repay about $13,000 of the $82,000 the society executive director submitted as costs.
