A Calgary lawyer admitted to committing forgery after falsifying court documents and deceiving a client, resulting in the client missing out on parenting time with his youngest child. Ronverg Mendoza, who was disbarred last year, pleaded guilty to the charges. The victim, Gord Weston, expressed how Mendoza’s actions prolonged a challenging family court process, causing him to lose valuable time with his daughter. It took two years to resolve the situation after Mendoza’s fraudulent activities.
The fraud details were revealed through an agreed statement of facts presented by prosecutor Megan Rosborough. Mendoza, who started practicing law in 2020, represented Weston in a family law case seeking parenting time with his youngest daughter. Despite being ordered by the court to schedule a trial and prepare for a hearing, Mendoza failed to take the necessary steps.
Mendoza misled Weston by fabricating an email, purportedly from the courthouse, about a virtual video hearing scheduled for August 10, 2022. He went as far as forging a clerk’s stamp on an affidavit to make it appear as if it had been filed. Mendoza continued the deception by falsifying emails about trial bookings and cancellations, leading to a situation where Weston arrived at the courthouse for a non-existent hearing on October 28, 2022.
Weston, feeling frustrated and betrayed, confronted Mendoza, who admitted his wrongdoing and expressed remorse for causing devastation and mental anguish. Weston reported Mendoza to the Law Society of Alberta, which found Mendoza guilty of various professional misconduct, resulting in his disbarment.
The law society emphasized Mendoza’s intentional dishonesty and deceit towards clients and the court, leading to the severest penalty of disbarment. A sentencing hearing for Mendoza’s forgery conviction is scheduled for later this year, pending a pre-sentence psychiatric report. Mendoza chose not to provide any comments following his guilty plea.