by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: March 2012

Primary Name Associated: Susan Heochi

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

A lawyer Ontario and on in Alberta have notified us that they have been contacted by the purported Susan Heochi with regards to a collaborative family law agreement dispute. This is a fraud we have seen before under several other names and similar scenarios. For details on how this fraud works and a full list of names attached to it see our Confirmed Fraud page.

Here is the initial email:

Subject: Dear counsel
Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:00:59 -0800
From: SUSAN HEOCHI
Reply-To:
To: lawyer name

Dear counsel

I am contacting your firm in regards to enforcement/collection of divorce settlement or possible litigation with my ex husband James Heochi who resides in your jurisdiction.

If you are in the position to represent me at the moment kindly advice immediately.

Yours Truly,
Susan Heochi

A lawyer who replied got the following response and documentation:

Thank you for your prompt response.Am living in japan and My Husband James live in Mississauga, ON

My Husband and I had an out of court agreement (Settlement Agreement) for him to pay $950,500.00 USD to his credit. He has only paid me $251,500.00 Usd since; I am hereby seeking your firm’s assistance in collecting the balance from him. He has agreed to pay me the balance but it is my belief that a Law firm like yours is needed to help me collect/enforce payment from my ex-husband James Heochi or litigate this matter if he fails to pay as promised.

I still reinstates my appear to have your firm collect these owned funds on my behalf instead of having him pay directly to me which I am very sure he will not, as I have made several efforts to collect these funds and all yielded no result.

I will be pleased to provide further information on this matter on request. I expect this to be a non-litigation matter as I have already notified him in enforcing your firm service. Please send me your retainer service agreement fee form ASAP. which should include your costs and other charges.so I can have a preview and execute.

Please find attached
Best Regards
Ms Susan Heochi

Heochi Final Decree of Divorce
Heochi Collaborative Law Participation Agreement
Heochi The Collaborative Law Agreement

How to handle a real or suspected fraud

If you have been targeted by any of these frauds, please forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to [email protected].

If you suspect you are acting on a matter that might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). We will talk you through the common fraud scenarios we are seeing and help you spot red flags that may indicate you are being duped. This will help you ask appropriate questions of your client to determine if the matter is legitimate or not. If the matter you are acting on turns out to be a fraud and there is a potential claim, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs.

If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you.

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Fraud Fact SheetMore fraud prevention information and resources are available on the practicePRO Fraud page, including the Fraud Fact Sheet, a handy reference for lawyers and law firm staff that describes the common frauds and the red flags that can help identify them.