Vancouver lawyer accused of moving criminal money dies before hearing

Publisher’s Note: This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) and CTV News.

Vancouver lawyer Michael Bolton has probably defended thousands of people in 50 years of practice. But ultimately, he was never given the chance to defend himself.

Bolton, one of the nation’s most prominent and experienced criminal defense lawyers, died in hospital on June 24, two friends said.

The Law Society of British Columbia accused Bolton of moving more than $20 million in suspicious funds through his law firm’s trust accounts on behalf of clients under criminal investigation in the United States.

Bolton’s December 2022 subpoena from the Bar Association alleged that he engaged in activities that “could aid or encourage dishonesty, crime, or fraud.” Alternatively, the Bar Association said, Bolton had failed to do enough to avoid becoming “the instrument or victim of an unscrupulous client or other persons.”

Bolton, who denied the charges, was due to appear before a Law Society court in early June. On 25 June, Bolton’s summons was withdrawn.

Christine Tam, a spokeswoman for the bar association, repeatedly declined to say why the subpoena was withdrawn or to confirm whether it was because Bolton had died.

Wally Oppal, former attorney general of British Columbia and a close friend of Bolton, said the Vancouver lawyer had been in hospital for months after battling a long illness due to pneumonia.

“He was pretty resilient. He kept practicing and then he got sick and started taking some time off, and eventually he was hospitalized,” Oppal said.

Ian Donaldson, another experienced Vancouver criminal defense lawyer and friend of Bolton, also told the IJF in an email that Bolton had died.

The IJF confirmed to the British Columbia Civil Registry that Philip Michael Bolton passed away on June 24. The IJF has not seen any public announcement of a funeral or memorial service.

Multiple phone calls and emails to Bolton’s wife were not returned. A person who answered the phone at Bolton’s law office also said he had died, but did not provide a name or further comment.

‘Nobody worked harder than Mike’

In his more than 50 years as a lawyer, Bolton has defended clients ranging from shoplifters to drug suspects and a sitting member of parliament. He has built a reputation as a deft litigator with a knack for winning complex cases.

Bolton was admitted to the bar in 1969 and almost immediately demonstrated a passion for civil rights and a skepticism of state power.

Advertisements in the Vancouver Sun and Province said Bolton taught at the Vancouver People’s Law School for part of the 1970s, providing free information on civil rights and how to hire a lawyer.

He also wrote a book called Civil Rights: The Law, The Police, and You, which he described as the “only complete guide to Canadian civil rights for ordinary citizens in everyday situations.” The book features cartoon illustrations of a man with a thick black moustache and bell-bottom jeans refusing to talk to police officers.

In 1975, Bolton was part of a committee of mostly ex-convicts that protested conditions in Canadian prisons after a British Columbia correctional worker was murdered by inmates. Bolton told the Vancouver Sun at the time that the worker “was murdered by the Canadian Penitentiary Service.”

“He was very passionate about the whole idea of ​​civil liberties and defense to make sure that poor people had access to the courts,” Oppal said.

Bolton also showed concern for his clients, which Oppal said was typical of him. In 1972, Bolton represented a 26-year-old mother in Victoria who stole a $7.95 sweater, according to a report in the Vancouver Sun. Bolton managed to get a judge to delay the woman’s prison sentence so she could go trick-or-treating with her children on Halloween.

Bolton’s star quickly rose. Over the next two decades, he would represent clients including accused drug traffickers, money launderers, and former NDP MP Svend Robinson, who was sentenced to 14 days in jail for his role in blocking logging on Haida Gwaii.

In 1987, Bolton was appointed Queen’s Counsel for his contributions to the profession, and would later be appointed a life bencher of the province’s bar association.

Bolton would later become involved in some of the most significant legal cases in recent British Columbia political history. He represented Dave Basi, a BC Liberal political consultant who eventually admitted to leaking information about the sale of BC Rail to private companies in 2003 for personal gain.

Bolton most recently ran his own small law firm in Vancouver’s Yaletown neighborhood, where he handled cases involving alleged fraud, corruption, large-scale drug investigations and international legal disputes.

A photo from a website for Michael Bolton’s criminal law firm, Bolton Law, Barristers and Solicitors. Bolton is seated on the right. (Source: bolton-law.ca/about)

Oppal, who met Bolton at law school, said Bolton – a former journalist – was adept at questioning witnesses.

“He had a knack for putting people at ease while he was questioning them,” Oppal said. “He had a knack for focusing on a witness, and then putting the witness in a position — he was very good.”

Bolton, Oppal said, was also a persistent and enthusiastic attorney who never went into a case unprepared.

“No one worked harder than Mike, and no one was ever shortchanged when they hired his services,” Oppal said.

Outside the courtroom, Oppal said Bolton was an avid sports fan. The two shared season tickets to the Canucks and traveled regularly to watch major league baseball.

According to Oppal, the bar association’s allegations, which Bolton tried in vain to keep secret, came as a surprise.

The subpoena arose from an audit of Bolton’s personal trust account in July 2019, something the Bar Association does for all practicing lawyers in British Columbia.

The association claimed to have evidence that Bolton had improperly deposited millions in Canadian and U.S. currencies into his law firm’s trust accounts.

The indictment was based on two allegations. The first alleged that Bolton used his firm’s accounts to receive or disburse C$4.87 million and US$6.51 million on behalf of five clients or related parties, who were not named, between October 2011 and November 2018. The bar association alleged that four of those clients “pleaded guilty in the United States to offenses involving money laundering and conspiracy to distribute wholesale quantities of mislabeled prescription drugs for foreign markets.”

The second allegation was that between September 2016 and January 2020, Bolton used trust accounts to receive or disburse C$10.16 million on behalf of three clients or related parties. The subpoena alleged that one or more of them had been described by U.S. officials as a “significant transnational criminal organization” and were the subject of claims by the Office of Forfeiture in Canada. The subpoena further alleged that at least one of Bolton’s clients “had been charged in the United States with offenses involving mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”

Peter Leask, Bolton’s former lawyer, told other media last year that the allegations against Bolton were “completely without foundation”.

– With files from Madison McLauchlan of the IJF