Murray Leon Pinsky and Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc. — September 12, 2001

Professional Conduct Decision

What is a professional conduct decision?

An investigation into a Licensed Insolvency Trustees (LIT)'s professional conduct is initiated when there is information to suggest that the LIT has not properly performed the duties of a trustee or there has been improper administration of an estate or lack of compliance with the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA).

In some cases, the findings are sufficiently serious to support a recommendation for sanctions against the LIT's licence (cancel or suspend a LIT's licence (subsection 13.2(5) of the BIA) or impose conditions or limitations (subsection 14.01(1) of the BIA)).

The professional conduct decision is deemed to be a decision of a federal board, commission or tribunal and may be judicially reviewed by the federal court.

In The Matter Of
Murray Leon Pinsky
Holder Of A Trustee Licence
For The Province Of Québec
And
Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc.
Holder Of A Corporate Trustee Licence
For The Province Of Québec

Trustee Suspension And Limitation Order
And
Corporate Trustee Limitation Order
Issued Under The
Bankruptcy And Insolvency Act

Whereas Murray Leon Pinsky, trustee, and Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., corporate trustee, operate an office in the City of Montréal in the Province of Québec;

Whereas the Senior Analyst, Disciplinary Affairs of the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy has submitted to the Superintendent of Bankruptcy a report (the "Report") on the administration of Murray Leon Pinsky, trustee and Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., corporate trustee pursuant to the general delegation received from the Superintendent of Bankruptcy concerning the application of Subsection 14.02(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Act);

Whereas the Report alleges the following serious deficiencies in the trustees' administration of the bankruptcy estate of Réal Constantineau:

  1. the trustees, Murray Leon Pinsky and Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acted in a dual capacity, as trustee and agent, without respecting all applicable requirements, thereby contravening sections 5(5), 13.4, 245 and 246 of the Act and Directives 15R on Costs and disclosure associated with the realization by the trustee of secured creditors' assets and Directive 32 on Trustee's report to the creditors on preliminary administration;
  2. the trustee Murray Leon Pinsky did not carry out his functions in a timely manner and did not act with due care following the judgments rendered on May 21, 1998 by the Honourable Justice Denis Lévesque and on July 9, 1998, by the Honourable Pierrette Rayle, ordering him respectively to remit the rent monies to the petitioners and to keep in trust the proceeds of the sale of a building, thereby contravening section 13.5 of the Act and Rules 36 and 48;
  3. the trustee Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acting by Murray Pinsky, filed the section 170 report on the application for discharge of Mr. Réal Constantineau without respecting all applicable requirements, thereby contravening sections 13.5 and 168.1 (a), 170(1) of the Act and Rules 36 and 45;
  4. the trustee Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acting by Murray Pinsky, did not perform their duties in a timely manner and carry out their functions with due care by failing to follow up on the requests made by the inspectors in the resolution on bank debits, thereby contravening section 13.5 of the Act and Rule 36;
  5. the trustee Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acting by Murray Pinsky, failed, following their substitution of November 24, 1998, to forthwith pass their accounts before the Court and deliver to the substituted trustee all the property of the estate, thereby contravening sections 13.5 and 36 of the Act and Rule 36;
  6. the trustee Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acting by Murray Pinsky, on November 26, 1998, withdrew from the estate account, fees of $185,000.00, excluding applicable taxes, without the inspectors' authorization, thereby contravening subsections 25(1.3) and 119(1) of the Act;
  7. the trustee Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acting by Murray Pinsky, failed to request inspectors' authorization at all times and to have the bills of costs for legal services taxed by the Court before paying them, in contravention with sections 25(1.3), 36, 119(1) and 197(4) of the Act and subsection 18(1) of the Rules;
  8. the trustee Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acting by Murray Pinsky, submitted to creditors, inspectors, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy and the Court, a statement of receipts and disbursements which did not contain a complete account of all moneys received and disbursed, thereby contravening subsections 5(5) and 152(1) of the Act and Directive 8R on the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act Forms;
  9. the trustee Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acting by Murray Pinsky, did not cooperate fully with representatives of the Superintendent, thereby contravening section 13.5 of the Act and Rules 36 and 37;
  10. the trustee Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., acting by Murray Pinsky, did not apply to the taxing officer, within 30 days after the Superintendent gave a letter of comment, for a date for a taxation hearing and did not diligently provide this hearing date to the representative of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, thereby contravening sections 13.5 and 152(4) of the Act and Rules 36 and 60;

Whereas pursuant to Subsection 14.02(1) of the Act, the Senior Analyst, Disciplinary Affairs to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy has sent to the trustee and corporate trustee, a written notice of the powers that the Superintendent of Bankruptcy could exercise and the reasons therefor;

Whereas prior to the calling of any witnesses on September 10, 2001, the first day of the Hearing which had been scheduled to last four days or more, the parties came to an agreement which resulted in the modification of the recommendations in the report of the Senior Analyst, Disciplinary Affairs, which agreement and modification took into account the following factors:

  1. While the Trustee and the corporate trustee did not accept all of the findings of the report as factually or legally correct, the Trustees did acknowledge that their conduct with respect to the matters in question fell below the standard expected of a licensed trustee or corporate trustee;
  2. The Report of the Senior Analyst did not allege any intentional prejudice to any parties, or any intent to defraud on the part of the Trustee or the corporate trustee;

Whereas the trustee and the corporate trustee now accept the modified recommendations of the Report as to sanctions in accordance with the following;

Whereas taking into consideration all the facts and circumstances above referred to, the undersigned does not deem it appropriate or in the public interest to vary or reject the modified recommendations made by the Senior Analyst, Disciplinary Affairs resulting in the consensual sanctions described herein;

I, Delegate of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, pursuant to the statutory powers delegated to me under Subsection 14.01(2) of the Act, approve the following agreement and hereby order as follows:

  1. That the licence of Murray Leon Pinsky, trustee, be suspended for a period of 6 months commencing November 1, 2001, during which time the trustee cannot act or represent himself as a trustee in bankruptcy or receiver in any file;
  2. That, subsequent to this suspension period of six months, the licence of Murray Leon Pinsky, trustee, be limited as follows: for another period of six months during which time he will be supervised by a licensed trustee acceptable to the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy,
    1. who will oversee the validity and legality of all payments, disbursements and trustee fees and that all documents, reports, notices and certificates are accurate and filed in the prescribed delays;
    2. who will make a report to the Montreal Division Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy at the end of the third and sixth month to confirm that the trustee has complied with the requirements mentioned in paragraph 2 (a) of this Order;
    3. whose fees and disbursements for the above-mentioned supervision, will not be taken from the estates;
  3. That the licence of Wasserman Stotland Bratt Grossbaum & Pinsky Inc., corporate trustee, be restricted for a period of 3 months commencing November 1, 2001, to the administration of estates to which it has been appointed as corporate trustee prior to November 1, 2001, during which period of time the corporate trustee cannot be appointed in any matter under the Act;
  4. Failure of the trustee and/or the corporate trustee to comply with any of the conditions and/or limitations imposed on their respective licences pursuant to this order, shall place the trustee and the corporate trustee in default pursuant to paragraph 13.2(5)(b) of the Act;
  5. Each duplicate original of this ORDER signed by the undersigned Delegate is equally valid and authentic and may serve as such for all legal purposes.

Signed in Montréal, in the province of Québec this 12th day of September 2001.

original signed by

The Honourable Benjamin J. Greenberg, Q.C.
Delegate of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy



This document has been reproduced as submitted by the delegate of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.