Brady conduct ‘reprehensible’ — GLC committee
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The General Legal Council (GLC) disciplinary committee, which found well-known former attorney Harold Brady guilty of misappropriating funds and struck his name for the roll of attorneys licensed to practise in Jamaica, says they found his conduct “reprehensible”.
In the written judgment by the three-member panel published on the GLC website today, the committee said Brady betrayed the trust of his clients when he collected the purchase price for the sale of property, and, after handing over a portion of the money three months later, failed “to account to his client for the balance purchase price”.
The judgment said Brady’s conduct “caused loss to his client having been deprived of its money since April, 2014 but it has placed a stain on the reputation of attorneys in general”.
Brady reportedly told the panel that his accountant had done something wrong, though accepting that he would be ultimately responsible to his clients. He then reportedly asked the panel “that the worse not be visited upon him in terms of a sanction”, the judgment said.
The panel, however, found that nothing had been said by Brady in ‘mitigation’ to warrant a ‘lesser sanction than striking’ him off the list of eligible attorneys.
Brady’s disbarment came after he reportedly represented the Factories Corporation of Jamaica in the sale of property valued at J$140m. The entire purchase price, and one half of the costs associated with the purchase of the property was then paid to Brady.
The agreement for sale was entered into on April 15, 2014, but the panel found that Brady did not turn over any money to his clients before July and August 2014, when he paid over J$70 million in two portions.
The panel also found that Brady did not cause the sale agreement to be stamped within thirty days, thus costing his clients penalties in amounts exceeding J$12 million on transfer tax and stamp duty.
The panel ruled that Brady was in breach of Canon I(b) of the Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules, as he “acted dishonestly and thereby failed to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession”.
Brady, a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) senior member, has denied wrongdoing since allegations arose against him in 2015 and reportedly told the panel at a February 25 hearing that he was “willing to repay the moneys to the Complainant, Factories Corporation of Jamaica Limited, and in fact wrote to the Complainant for their bank account number so that he could wire the funds into same”.
However, the panel wrote that his “expression of a willingness to now repay the moneys misappropriated cannot obviate his dishonest behaviour”.
Brady was struck from the roll, ordered to pay the legal costs of the Factories Corporation of Jamaica, and ordered to pay the sum of J$111,380,364.62, inclusive of interest, in restitution to the complainants.
He has since indicated an intention to appeal the ruling of the panel.
Yakum Fitz-Henley