58 pairs of Manolo Blahniks among hundreds of items seized at lawyer couple's home amid fraud probe

Zach Dubinsky · CBC News

· Posted: May 10, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A Toronto lawyer mates who lived a beingness of multimillion-dollar homes and precocious manner are nether probe for fraud, possession of the proceeds of transgression and laundering the proceeds of crime, aft much than $7 cardinal of their clients' wealth was stolen and funnelled into galore of those luxury purchases.

In the archetypal nationalist motion that constabulary are taking factual steps to analyse lawyers Singa Bui and Nicholas Cartel, officers executed a hunt warrant astatine the couple's midtown location successful December and carted distant hundreds of decorator goods successful a cube truck.

A database of items constabulary seized, filed successful tribunal earlier this twelvemonth and obtained by CBC News, includes 58 pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes, 52 covering items from decorator statement Alexander McQueen, 16 pairs of Christian Louboutin footwear, ties and different accessories from Hermes, and much than 20 accessories and pairs of shoes from Chanel. 

CBC's ain probe suggests the 1,153 items connected the database could scope successful worth from $150 for sandals to perchance much than $10,000 for an Oscar de la Renta jumpsuit, and whitethorn altogether beryllium worthy much than a cardinal dollars.

Bui, a existent property lawyer and managing spouse astatine Cartel & Bui LLP, has already admitted successful a civilian tribunal affidavit that she started pilfering lawsuit wealth from the firm's spot relationship arsenic acold backmost arsenic 2014. 

She said she initially took smaller amounts "to marque ends meet" but yet embezzled tens of thousands of dollars astatine a clip to money "luxurious vacations," good dining, private-school tuition for their children and "elegant furnishings and costly art." 

She said successful the sworn connection she had a buying compulsion "as a coping mechanics for different stressors successful my beingness including my household and my practice."

Because her connection was compelled by a judge's order, it can't beryllium utilized against her to enactment a transgression prosecution.

Cartel, who focused connected people actions and litigation, powerfully denies having immoderate manus successful the misappropriation of lawsuit funds, and has repeatedly blamed his wife, who helium says managed some their firm's and their household's finances.

"There's nary chance, perfectly nary chance, that I'm implicated successful this," Cartel told CBC News this week. He said constabulary person not questioned nor adjacent contacted him. 

Police allege mates were 'living good beyond their means'

In its exertion to get the hunt warrant for the couple's home, Toronto police's fraud squad said it needed to prehend the luxury items due to the fact that recognition paper and slope records allegedly showed they were paid for with funds stolen from the instrumentality firm's clients — and frankincense the items could beryllium grounds of laundering and possession of proceeds obtained by crime.

"Preliminary fiscal records for Nicholas Cartel, Singa Bui and Cartel & Bui LLP…. bespeak that Singa Bui and/or Nicholas Cartel had been surviving good beyond their means — including expenses good beyond what could beryllium supported by their lawful income — and had resorted to embezzling funds from the firm's spot relationship to enactment their spending," says the constabulary papers filed successful court.

"When questioned oregon confronted astir the firm's evident nonaccomplishment to disburse funds appropriately, Singa Bui and/or Nicholas Cartel repeatedly and willfully misled their clients (and different persons) arsenic to what had truly occurred to their funds."

Anthony Ingarra, who on with household and friends mislaid $410,000 erstwhile Cartel & Bui LLP failed to transportation them the proceeds from immoderate backstage owe loans they had made, told CBC the worth of the luxury goods seized by constabulary is "just a splash successful the cookware for what's really owing to the victims."

Police and different court records enactment that fig astatine northbound of $7 million.  

Ingarra's household and friends are among the 20 radical who contacted constabulary betwixt December 2023 and May 2024 to record transgression complaints, according to the hunt warrant records. He and his household and friends besides sued Bui, Cartel and their steadfast and person a default judgement for $459,000 against Bui. 

Other victims person obtained default tribunal judgments against Cartel and the instrumentality steadfast totalling astir $5 million.

Most of the victims were homebuyers oregon sellers who utilized Bui arsenic their lawyer to adjacent the merchantability and grip the wealth transfer. 

The lawsuit has underscored however anyone buying oregon selling a location — typically the astir costly transaction of a person's beingness — tin beryllium susceptible to fraud by the precise lawyers required by statute successful immoderate provinces to grip the transaction, with scant guarantees of immoderate protection. 

"It makes maine sick to my stomach," said Ingarra, who is himself a registered owe agent, past week. "You're virtually stealing and taking vantage of guiltless radical that are trusting you connected truly a elemental transaction, but 1 of the biggest ones successful their lives." 

Law nine disciplinary charges

Both lawyers person been provisionally suspended by the Law Society of Ontario since April 2024 pending its probe of their conduct. 

In Bui's case, the LSO past filed a disciplinary announcement against her successful March alleging 13 instances of misappropriation of lawsuit funds and 1 number of failing to enactment with integrity and failing to promote respect for the medication of justice. 

The second number stems from Bui being recovered successful contempt of tribunal and subsequently jailed for 20 days for disregarding aggregate orders from a justice successful the civilian cases to crook implicit records and reply questions astir what she had done with the embezzled money. 

No disciplinary enactment has yet been filed against Cartel, who told CBC this week helium volition propulsion to get his instrumentality licence reinstated and the Law Society's preliminary findings against him dismissed. 

He, too, was recovered successful contempt of tribunal successful the aforesaid lawsuit past autumn and jailed for 30 days, but says helium plans to entreaty that arsenic well, citing records helium obtained since past that helium claims amusement helium did thing wrong.

Generally, the Law Society of Ontario's presumptive punishment for a lawyer who misappropriates lawsuit wealth is to disbar them, arsenic a caller disciplinary ruling noted.