Manitoba lawyer disbarred over 'fraudulent billing scheme' that invoiced public legal funds

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 18, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A lawyer who utilized a "fraudulent billing scheme" to invoice a legal-assistance programme for low-income Manitobans has been disbarred aft the province's ineligible nine recovered him blameworthy connected aggregate counts of nonrecreational misconduct. 

In a Feb. 3 decision, a Law Society of Manitoba sheet recovered Rishi Ganesh Bharath, who was archetypal called to the barroom successful 2016, blameworthy connected 5 charges of nonrecreational misconduct. A announcement of disbarment was published earlier this month. 

Bharath's strategy progressive taking connected clients receiving assistance from Legal Aid Manitoba — a provincial programme that provides ineligible assistance to Manitobans who cannot spend to prosecute a lawyer — and withdrawing representation nether mendacious pretenses, portion inactive charging Legal Aid Manitoba the afloat magnitude related to each case. 

Between 2022 and 2023, six clients experienced a accordant signifier of unethical behaviour: Bharath took connected Legal Aid Manitoba certificates and provided constricted services, earlier abruptly closing the certificates and claiming helium mislaid interaction with the client. 

In respective cases, the instrumentality nine says helium continued to person interaction with clients aft helium had already closed their certificates. 

Under the society's codification of conduct, lawyers cannot retreat practice "except for bully origin and connected tenable announcement to the client." 

In the lawsuit of 1 lawsuit — referred to arsenic Client A successful Citation 1 of the determination papers — Bharath attacked their character, claiming Client A had pack affiliations and "an extended transgression record," contempt determination being nary transgression grounds successful the lawsuit record materials, the nine wrote. 

Bharath blamed different clients — outlined successful Citation 2, submitted by Legal Aid Manitoba — for his withdrawal of representation, suggesting that addiction and mental-health issues affected clients' abilities to respond. 

Both Legal Aid Manitoba and the Law Society of Manitoba investigated Bharath's conduct, uncovering billing irregularities that the lawyer past attempted to screen up. 

On 2 occasions, Bharath created fraudulent documents during the investigations "in an evident effort to evade responsibility," the instrumentality nine wrote successful its decision. 

Bharath claimed helium wrote a missive to Client A connected Aug. 25, 2022, stating "I person not heard from you successful a while," contempt the Legal Aid Manitoba certificate being issued days before. He charged Legal Aid Manitoba for 90 minutes of his clip to draught this letter. 

Client A says the missive was ne'er received and the instrumentality nine recovered that Bharath fabricated the missive to mislead its investigation.  

When questioned astir circumstantial charges, the nine says Bharath changed his invoices to misrepresent his enactment and the clip helium spent doing it, successful bid to support his eligibility to complaint the afloat magnitude for each case. 

The nine besides recovered Bharath to beryllium "ungovernable," charging him with nonrecreational misconduct aft helium stopped responding to instrumentality nine communications successful January 2024. He did not respond to immoderate of the proceeding materials, nor did helium taxable immoderate written statements oregon ineligible documents.  

The sheet ordered that Bharath wage a $9,200 punishment astatine a disciplinary proceeding past November, which helium did not attend. No ineligible typical attended connected his behalf. 

The Law Society of Manitoba says Bharath submitted an exertion to retreat from progressive signifier connected Feb. 28, 2024. While helium is present non-practicing, the nine says his withdrawal "has nary interaction connected the Society's work to support the public."

Bharath's behaviour "went to the bosom of the Society's nationalist extortion relation and the intent of discipline," the nine wrote, adding that "the nationalist were victims of misappropriation" successful the lawyer's billing scheme.