A Prince Albert lawyer has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for defrauding the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement of close to $35,000.
Kristian Eggum knowingly submitted $233,000 in false claims to the settlement agreement between 2006 and 2012.
His take of that amount was 15 per cent.
Crown prosecutor Darren Howarth says it is clear Eggum abused his position as a solicitor.
“As a lawyer, he’s under a very high duty to uphold ethics in society and he obviously didn’t uphold that standard in this case at the end of his career,” he says.
The 80-year-old barrister pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 at Court of Queen’s Bench in Prince Albert on Friday.
The scam involved as many as 50 bogus claims most of which were made by claimants who said they attended St. Michael’s Indian Residential School in Duck Lake.
Eggum has the option of serving his sentence on weekends.
He is also forbidden from practicing law for three years, being in any position of authority that involves money for 20 years and repaying the money his firm received.
Howarth says Eggum has not been practicing law for the last few years.
He was initially charged in May 2016.
Eggum’s law partner, Peter Abrametz Sr., has also been disbarred by the Law Society of Saskatchewan until 2021 for conduct unbecoming a lawyer.