Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 7, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 ONE DAY POLAR BEAR ADVENTURE In support of Assiniboine Park Conservancy 204 949 2050 Space is limited. Call now to book your adventure! frontiersnorth.com/apc CITY●BUSINESS ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM B1 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 7, 2020 SECTION BCONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE▼ A Winnipeg immigration lawyer has been disbarred after he defrauded his clients out of $6.5 million and dashed their dreams of immigrating to Canada. Paul Hesse was disbarred Monday and is no longer allowed to practise law in Manitoba after he was found guilty of 29 counts of professional misconduct for stealing from 27 clients over three years. He convinced some to invest in a busi- ness owned by his then-romantic part- ner without disclosing the personal re- lationship, and put other clients’ money into sham investments, the Law Society of Manitoba found. Overall, Hesse out- right stole $3.5 million from clients and obtained another $3 million by deceiv- ing them. He lied and told them their immigration status depended on the in- vestments, in some cases. The law society made the decision af- ter a Sept. 16 hearing Hesse did not at- tend. The disciplinary committee found him guilty in absentia because he was personally served with a 129-page docu- ment that laid out all of the allegations against him, and he didn’t respond. Anyone who doesn’t respond to such a notice within 20 days is considered to have admitted to all of the allegations contained in it, under Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench rules. “The evidence is overwhelming and shows a deliberate, multi-year scheme to steal from and defraud 27 dif- ferent clients for the member’s own benefit and for the benefit of his close personal associ- ate,” dating back to 2016, the law society’s decision states. Most of those 27 clients had their immigration plans ruined by Hesse’s fraud and deceit, the disciplinary panel found. The Law Society has ordered him to pay $40,000 in costs from the disciplinary investigation. Most of Hesse’s clients were from China and were particularly vulnerable because they didn’t speak English. Sev- eral of them are suing him. Haokuang Tan launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against Hesse in August, al- leging he stole $350,000 from Tan by telling him he was required to make an investment as part of his immigra- tion application. Unbeknownst to Tan at the time, the numbered company he invested in was owned by Hesse and his former romantic partner, Patrick Max- well. Those allegations haven’t been proven in court. The Free Press first reported last year that Hesse, a partner at Pitblado Law at the time of his misconduct, was stripped of that title in June 2019 after the firm found out Hesse was encour- aging clients to invest in businesses as- sociated with Maxwell. Maxwell was the owner of White Lotus Pet Spa in Osborne Village, which closed three weeks after Hesse was re- moved as a partner at Pitblado. Max- well was also associated with a number of other businesses run out of the same Scott Street office, including a real es- tate firm. Pitblado managing partner Benjamin Hecht released a statement following the disciplinary panel decision. “In June 2019, our firm’s manage- ment was appalled to discover a pattern of irregular activity by Mr. Paul Hesse that did not live up to the standards we set for ourselves, or that our clients expect and deserve. We immediately removed Mr. Hesse from the firm and have fully cooperated with the Law So- ciety of Manitoba in its investigation of the matter,” Hecht wrote. “As we continue working to serve our clients with the highest standards of integrity, professionalism and compas- sion, we hope the Law Society’s decision is seen as an important step towards holding Mr. Hesse accountable.” Kris Dangerfield, CEO of the Law Society, said Hesse’s misconduct was “absolutely egregious and very disturb- ing.” The Law Society began investigat- ing Hesse after Pitblado reported his behaviour in June 2019. Danger- field said the law society “stepped in quickly to ensure the conduct couldn’t continue,” suspending Hesse shortly thereafter. His former clients have been notified that they can claim reimbursements through a fund set up by the society, paid for by other lawyers. Hesse is believed to be living out of province, and Dangerfield confirmed he was not in Manitoba when he was most recently served with the law so- ciety’s evidence against him. As to whether the law society has any hope of being repaid by Hesse — including the $40,000 he now owes and any costs incurred via the reimbursement fund — Dangerfield said that “remains to be seen.” Hesse was a former president of the Manitoba Liberal party. He stepped down in 2016. He did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. — staff Immigration lawyer disbarred after $6.5-M fraud A Winnipeg firefighter on trial for sex- ually assaulting two women over 20 years has been found not guilty in con- nection to one of the victims after the Crown conceded Tuesday it had not proven its case. “I would agree with what the Crown suggests, that (the charges) have not been proven,” said Queen’s Bench Jus- tice Joan McKelvey before acquitting Manuel Ruiz, 54, of one count each of sexual assault, forcible confinement and procuring for the purposes of pros- titution. The 35-year-old woman who was the focus of those charges testified last spring that she and Ruiz had been dating a short time when he allegedly pushed her to have sex with three men against her will. The woman alleged she lived with Ruiz for a few months in 2006, during which time he would lock her alone in their bedroom for up to eight hours. She claimed in 2009, after giving him a massage at his home, he sexually as- saulted her. Ruiz denied the charges, telling court the two only lived together three weeks and had sex no more than three or four times. On Tuesday, lawyers for the Crown and defence made their closing argu- ments in the case of the remaining al- leged victim, a 46-year-old woman who testified she met Ruiz when she was 12 and they were both taking classes at a taekwondo studio. At trial, the woman alleged Ruiz would frequently rub up against her as she squeezed through a doorway on her way to the change room. The woman testified they maintained a friendship throughout her teen years and into her 20s. She told court when she was 25, Ruiz sexually assaulted her in her apartment and continued to have sex with her against her will on other occasions at his home and martial arts studio. Ruiz testified he didn’t remember meeting the woman before 1997 or 1998 when she jogged past a Sherbrook Street patio where he had been sharing drinks with some of his jiu-jitsu stu- dents. Over time, the two became friends, Ruiz said, with the woman making the first sexual overture during a visit to her apartment for tea in 2002. Ruiz said they stopped short of sex, with him telling the woman he had to go. Some days later, the woman invited Ruiz to a Grosvenor Avenue bed and breakfast where she was working and the two had sex, Ruiz said. Firefighter cleared in sex assault, second case looms T HREE members of a Winnipeg family accused of staging a hate crime at their defunct Riv- er Heights restaurant have every in- tention of returning to Winnipeg for trial once COVID-19 restrictions are reduced, their lawyers say. “They maintain their innocence and want their day in court,” said Phil Cramer, lawyer for Maxim Ber- ent, who, along with his father Alex- ander and mother Oxana Berent, are facing charges of public mischief after alleging their Corydon Avenue restaurant, BerMax Caffé + Bistro, had been the target of four anti-Sem- itic attacks last year. The three accused relocated to Los Angeles in January and were set to stand trial in Winnipeg, beginning Oct. 13. Last week, a judge, in the expecta- tion the three accused would not arrive in Winnipeg for trial, issued warrants for their arrest. Defence lawyers said Tuesday they agreed to the warrants, which would allow the three accused to re- turn to Winnipeg at a later date, turn themselves in to police, and then be released on a promise to appear in court. “This was all by agreement (with the Crown),” said Michael Lazar, Ox- ana Berent’s lawyer, adding the three accused have had an active role in trial discussions since their move to California. “If you are just going to abscond and blow the whole thing off, you don’t make efforts to try and make other arrangements, you just dis- appear,” Lazar said. Lazar said the family was given court approval to relocate to Los An- geles in January, before the pandem- ic, after arguing they had no finan- cial supports in Winnipeg and were being ostracized by the religious community. In Los Angeles, the family found support with a local Jewish social agency, Lazar said. “And then COVID came along, and we indicated to them that, obviously now coming from the States, you have to isolate for two weeks when you get back,” Lazar said. The family’s efforts to find a place to stay were fruitless, and they didn’t have the money to pay for two weeks in a hotel, Lazar said. Defence lawyers filed a motion to allow the trial to proceed with the three accused participating via video from Los Angeles, but it was dis- missed. “I think part of the issue is it was going to be a lengthy trial,” Lazar said. “There have been a number of cases during COVID where people have done this, but this was a much longer, more complicated trial, there was video evidence, surveil- lance, and the judge was concerned that (the accused) wouldn’t be able to see it.” Then last week, defence lawyers filed a motion to adjourn the trial, but a judge rejected it because no fixed date could be assigned. It was after that when Crown and defence lawyers agreed to cancel the trial and issue the arrest warrants, including an agreement from the Crown that the three accused would not be charged with failing to appear in court upon their return to Winni- peg. “It was clear they couldn’t phys- ically come back right now,” Laz- ar said. “Quarantine was the big issue. “This was actually a fairly co-oper- ative effort between the Crown and defence lawyers to try and deal with this,” he said. “We are dealing with unusual situations due to COVID right now and it requires a fair de- gree of creativity sometimes.” dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca DEAN PRITCHARD DEAN PRITCHARD Family accused of staging hate crime ‘want their day in court’ Paul Hesse ● FIREFIGHTER, CONTINUED ON B2 JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Maxim Berent, one of the owners of the former BerMax Caffé + Bistro, wipes anti-Semitic graffiti off the window of the business in February 2019. 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