Julius Melnitzer

Julius Melnitzer is a Canadian freelance legal writer and former lawyer. In 1992, he pleaded guilty to 42 counts of fraud in relation to defrauding five Canadian banks out of $67 million. He was sentenced to nine years in jail.^[1] He was a founding partner of "Cohen,Highley" in London, Ontario.

It was the largest personal loan fraud in Canadian history.^[2]

After being disbarred, Melnitzer became a prominent legal affairs writer and as of January 2021, has bylines in the Financial Post.^[1][3]

Crime and punishment

Melnitzer was a successful and high-profile lawyer in London, Ontario,^[4] when he began a scheme to print fake stock certificates to be used as collateral to get loans from major Canadian banks. He was caught when an officer at National Bank of Canada became suspicious and asked for an inspection of the certificates. Melnitzer was arrested three days later. He was later disbarred, and at his sentencing the judge read a "scathing" indictment on his actions.^[5] Melnitzer was given day parole two years later, and then full parole in 1995.^[1]

Melnitzer's partner at the time of the fraud, Fletcher Dawson, and he was duped for about $100,000.^[6] Future London MPP Chris Bentley was an articling student at Melnitzer's firm.^[6]

References

1. Livesey, Bruce (March 2010). . Canadian Lawyer. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
2. Department of Justice (5 December 2011). "A Typology of Profit-Driven Crimes". Research and Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
3. "Author Profile: Julius Melnitzer". Financial Post. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
4. Tyler, Tracey (28 December 2007). "Chris Bentley's role reversal". Toronto Star. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
5. Borcea, Dana (5 November 2005). "William Maloney, 75: Judge heard many tough cases". Toronto Star. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
6. Tyler, Tracey (28 December 2007). "Chris Bentley's role". Toronto Star. Retrieved 26 March 2015.