The Law Society of Upper Canada is seeking to suspend the licence of an Ottawa lawyer accused of defrauding the Catholic Church of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Ronald Houlahan is scheduled to stand trial in March on criminal charges of fraud, theft and possession of the proceeds of crime after he was accused by the Catholic Church of receiving, misusing or failing to properly account for $365,870 over an eight-year period while he was the chair of the St. Patrick’s Church Fallowfield cemetery committee.
The law society brought a motion last month to have Houlihan’s licence to practise law suspended after discovering the 76-year-old lawyer and former small claims court deputy judge had been criminally charged more than two years ago in November 2014. The law society alleges that Houlahan never told it about the charges, as he is required to do under law society bylaws.
The law society alleges it only learned about the criminal case against Houlahan when one of its investigators was speaking to an Ottawa police fraud investigator about an unrelated investigation.
The law society intends to argue during a hearing scheduled for Friday that the licence suspension is necessary because there are reasonable grounds to believe there is a “significant risk” of harm to members of the public or the public interest in the administration of justice if his licence to practise law isn’t suspended.
Houlahan declined to comment on the law society’s efforts to suspend his licence when reached by the Citizen by email Tuesday. However, in a letter to the law society sent in November 2016, Houlahan indicated that he intended to plead not guilty to the charges, according to an affidavit filed in support of the law society motion.
Houlahan first came under a law society investigation in 2012 after the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Ottawa complained about him. However, the law society discontinued the investigation in March 2014 after the church filed a lawsuit against Houlahan and two other members of the cemetery committee.
The church had also filed a complaint with Ottawa police in May 2013; at the time, the police investigation was ongoing, although no charges had been laid. A law society investigator said in an affidavit that he believed if charges were laid, Houlahan would report the matter to the law society and the law society investigation would resume.
The Catholic Church’s lawsuit — which is no longer active — alleged that Houlahan received $192,729 for “unknown disbursements,” $71,637 in missing sale and burial proceeds, and $22,690 for unsupported payments to other parties over an eight-year period between 2003 and 2011.
The statement of claim also alleges that Houlahan issued bills for legal services supplied to the parish; the church alleges he was never retained as legal counsel.
In his statement of defence, Houlahan denied the allegations, describing them as “unjustified, made in bad faith and with malice.” He further alleged the church’s auditors made their findings before he could provide records they had requested. Houlahan also filed a $100,000 counterclaim for defamation.
The lawsuit also named two other members of the cemetery committee, Michael Rooney and Glenn Clarke, although the allegations against them focused mainly on their receiving honorariums. Rooney was accused of diverting $24,800 and Clarke of $23,300. Both men also filed counterclaims alleging defamation and wrongful termination of their contracts.
In their statements of defence, Rooney and Clarke alleged that the payments to members of the cemetery committee were known to and accepted by the archdiocese and employees of St. Patrick’s parish. Neither man has been criminally charged.
Lawyers for all four parties either didn’t immediately respond or declined to comment on how or why the civil suit is no longer active, although court staff said a mediation session was held in March 2016.
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