Lawyer sentenced to more than 3 years in $2M condo fraud case in Toronto

Toronto police say a 66-year-old woman has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison in condominium fraud case.

They say Meerai Cho, who had been facing 25 counts each of fraud over $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime, and breach of trust, pleaded guilty Wednesday to criminal breach of trust.

When Cho was charged in 2014 it was alleged that, acting as a lawyer on behalf of the Centrust Group, she completed purchase-and-sale agreements for pre-construction condominiums and accepted deposit cheques from the buyers.

It was alleged that when the project was cancelled, she did not return the deposits and the purchasers lost in excess of $2 million.

The Law Society of Upper Canada suspended Cho's licence to practise law in August 2014.

The Law Society has a compensation fund to helps clients who have lost money because of the dishonesty of a lawyer or paralegal.