{"id":302933,"date":"2023-12-12T14:15:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T20:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=302933"},"modified":"2023-12-15T22:16:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T04:16:09","slug":"ex-new-brunswick-deputy-ag-who-gambled-client-funds-faces-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ex-new-brunswick-deputy-ag-who-gambled-client-funds-faces-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-New Brunswick Deputy AG Who Gambled Client Funds Faces Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former Deputy Attorney General of the Canadian province of New Brunswick stole $481,148 from his clients while serving as a private lawyer. Now, Crown prosecutors in Moncton, N.B., are asking for a three-year prison term for the ex-prosecutor, who fled the province after pillaging client accounts.<\/p>\n

\"Yassin
Yassin Choukri is pictured addressing reporters in an undated photograph. The lawyer went on the run for four years after embezzling his clients\u2019 money and was eventually found running a problem gambling program. (Image: CBC<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yassin Choukri served as New Brunswick’s deputy AG from 2003 until 2006, when the election of a new provincial administration displaced him. In 2010, he was appointed the public intervener for hearings before the province\u2019s Energy and Utilities Board.<\/p>\n

\n

But around the time he left government and returned to private practice in the New Brunswick capital, Fredericton, Choukri had developed a gambling addiction. This led to severe financial difficulties, prosecutors said in court last Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Between 2014 and 2016, Choukri gradually withdrew money from clients\u2019 trust accounts under his control in installments of several thousand dollars.<\/p>\n

On the Run<\/b><\/h2>\n

The money was primarily used to repay credit card debt and cash advances from Casino New Brunswick<\/a> in Moncton, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Choukri\u2019s lawyer said he would mainly play poker. The Hendon Mob Database lists a Canadian player from Fredericton with the same name who cashed in three tournaments between 2013 and 2014 for $11,987.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Sept. 27, 2016, checks drawn from the trust accounts began to bounce, and Choukri disappeared. His wife reported him missing on September 29.<\/p>\n

In August 2020, he was tracked down to Mississauga, Ont., where he had established a program for problem gamblers and was arrested.<\/p>\n

In October 2023, seven years after going on the lam, Choukri pleaded guilty to a single charge of theft of more than $5,000.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cautionary Tale\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Friday, Choukri told the court that he was \u201cashamed\u201d of everything that had happened. Speaking in French, he apologized to his family, former clients, the legal profession, and the justice system, CBC News<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

It is a cautionary tale,”\u00a0Crown prosecutor\u00a0Vicky Doucette\u00a0told reporters. \u201cThis was a gambling addiction.\u00a0It shows how high someone can be and how low they can fall. He is now a man that lives with his mother\u2026 Now he’s going to have to pay his debt to society. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be a monetary debt. It’s going to be a period of time in a federal institution.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The prosecution isn’t seeking restitution from the defendant because he has no money. All the funds he stole from his clients are gone, Doucette said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey belong to the casinos now,” she added.<\/p>\n

Choukri will be sentenced on December 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The former Deputy Attorney General of the Canadian province of New Brunswick stole $481,148 from his clients while serving as a private lawyer. Now, Crown prosecutors in Moncton, N.B., are asking for a three-year prison term for the ex-prosecutor, who fled the province after pillaging client accounts. Yassin Choukri served as New Brunswick’s deputy AG […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":302936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81887,21,83771],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEx-New Brunswick Deputy AG Who Gambled Client Funds Faces Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yassin Choukri was Deputy AG for New Brunswick from 2003 until 2006. 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