Collaborative family law agreement scam by Haila (or Kin) Atsushi
Description of Potential Fraud:
Three lawyers in Ontario and two in Alberta have notified us that they have been contacted by the purported Haila Atsushi (or Kin Atsushi) 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:
From: Haila Atsushi
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 10:01 PM
To: undisclosed recipients:
Subject: Legal Need
I am contacting your firm in regards to a divorce settlement with my ex husband.
Thanks in anticipation.
Haila Atsushi
One lawyer who replied got this response:
Dear Sir
I am in receipt of your email. am living in Malaysia, I and Mark Atsushi(Ex Husband) living in Canada. We agreed under this Collaborative Law Agreement for a cash settlement of $623,000.00USD to his credit, He is still owing $501.000.00USD. I am hereby seeking your firm`s assistance in collecting the balance from him .
Thank you and have a pleasant day.
Haila Atsushi.
Atsushi Collaborative Agreement Signed
Atsushi Divorce- Decree Signed
Atsushi Settlement Agreement Signed
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.
February 07, 2012 at 6:14 pm, Kim Kohn said:
We are a law office in Tacoma Washington and received 2 e-mails within an hour from this person:
Haila Atsushi [email protected]
Hello,
I sent you an email earlier concerning my legal matter with me and my ex Which i have not hard from you.As i need your counsel for litigation,collection or enforcement of settlement agreement between me and him.
Regards,