West Vancouver mayor banned from practising law for 2 years
West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager has been sus‐ pended from practising law for two years after agreeing that he commit‐ ted three instances of pro‐ fessional misconduct while handling a friend's estate, says a Wednesday release from the Law Society of B.C.
The society says Sager ad‐ mitted to acting in a conflict of interest by failing to en‐ sure his client had received independent legal advice over the arrangement.
He also admitted to with‐ drawing $44,800 in execu‐ tor's fees and $26,790,81 in care and management fees from the estate funds before receiving approval to do so.
Sager further admitted that he failed to maintain proper records and did not make contact with four chari‐ ties that were listed as bene‐ ficiaries on the will for ap‐ proximately nine years.
Sager was issued a cita‐ tion by the law society listing these allegations in Septem‐ ber 2022, a month before being elected mayor.
The agreement between the lawyer and Sager says he invoiced the estate and reim‐ bursed himself more than $162,800 in travel expenses, visiting the sister of his client in England at least 18 times until she passed away in 2019, without getting ap‐ proval from the beneficiaries or the court.
It also says he mistakenly billed the estate for several personal purchases, includ‐ ing from clothing store All‐ Saints Jacks Place, depart‐ ment store Harrods, leather goods store Smythson, and a stay at a hotel in France.
It says he withdrew $2,954.80 from separate bank accounts belonging to the client for "funeral costs," mistakenly reimbursing him‐ self twice for the same ex‐ pense.
He also issued a cheque for $2,000 to the Kay Meek Arts Centre, despite the cen‐ tre not being listed as a ben‐ eficiary of the will.
The agreement notes that in addition to the suspen‐ sion, Sager volunteered to repay to the estate a total of $40,857.66, which consists of the mistaken expenses, as well as half the executor's fees and care and manage‐ ment fees.
Sager told CBC News he is glad the issue is resolved, noting "it's been a distrac‐ tion" and the discrepancies he admitted to are "minor."
"When I was elected may‐ or, I committed to leaving my legal practice to devote all of my time to the important is‐ sues facing West Vancouver. Unfortunately, complaints to the law society delayed my resignation [from the soci‐ ety]," reads a statement from Sager.
"As of April 1, I will resign from membership with the law society and refocus my complete attention on our community."
Past controversies
Sager faced controversy in 2018 when allegations sur‐ faced that he improperly ac‐ cepted a $75,000 gift from his godmother while writing her will.
The Law Society of B.C. later fined him $20,000 for his actions.
He is currently the subject of an Elections B.C. investiga‐ tion into his campaign spending, after the organiza‐ tion announced it had identi‐ fied possible irregularities "during a compliance review of Mark Sager's campaign fi‐ nancing disclosure report for the 2022 General Local Elec‐ tions."
Sager declined to com‐ ment on the ongoing investi‐ gation.