PATHOLOGICAL LAWYER

What happens when a real estate lawyer uses her firm's trust account to finance her family's lavish lifestyle? Inside the multimillion-dollar embezzlement case against Singa Bui

- BY COURTNEY SHEA

IN AN INDUSTRY OBSESSED with curb appeal, Singa Bui looked the part: designer suits, forever-fresh blow outs, a Jaguar SUV.

Her collection of four-inch Manolos was a monument to upward mobility. Over the years, she had earned a place in the digital Rolodexes of many of Toronto's real estate agents, one call away when their clients needed a lawyer to process documents and oversee the transfer of funds. Bui was professional, reliable and thoughtful— she remembered the names of her clients' kids and gifted bougie baskets and $100 scented candles come holiday season.

Ryan and Danielle Fung never met Bui in person, but her flash would have been wasted on them anyway. They are devout Christians and unimpressed by material extravagance. Software engineers during the tech boom, they scrimped and saved and by late 2023 had tucked away enough to pay in full for a $2.175-million Edwardian in Riverdale. It was the quintessential Toronto dream home, although the Fungs had a different sort of dream: they planned to renovate the building to house missionaries. But, first, the deal had to close.