One Impersonation that could change the History of a Nation

A serous scandal is about to begin in Toronto. Fabricio Campos an illegal immigrant from Portugal was lured from his hiding when an immigration enforcement officer impersonated his lawyer to set up a fake meeting. He offered to take Mr. Campos to a detention centre to see his wife, Marta, and his daughter that were arrested the previous day. The officer pretending to be lawyer also assured Mr. Campos that he will be safe and nothing will happen to him. After the officers got the address of the apartment where Fabricio Campos was at the moment, they arrested him and took him to Toronto detention centre, he will be deported shortly afterwards.

Joel Sandaluk, the actual lawyer of Campos, is furious about the situation; in one of his interviews he stated the following:

"The idea of my name being used to lure somebody into a trap is stunning. For somebody to assume my identity in order to trick somebody else - it doesn't matter whether the purpose is to enforce the law or to break the law - is a violation."

"It really undermines my ability to represent my clients. The only way a client would know he is really talking to me is if he is sitting across the table from me. I couldn't believe they would do this. I've never heard of this happening before."

Guidy Mamann, the law partner of Mr. Sandaluk, also stated that it is not only a serious criminal offence, but it is also a violation of solicitor-client privilege.

"I understand that people have to be deported from the country; not everybody gets to stay. But the day they start impersonating lawyers, we're all screwed. What is that going to do to the right to counsel? I would think that it would put a chilling effect on everyone who goes to a lawyer."

Mr. Mamann suspects that the officers obtained the phone of Mr. Campos by monitoring the calls of his wife, so illegal wiretapping is also possible. Mr. Mamann said that he will contact the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Advocates' Society, the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Upper Canada. He also stated that he will lay a charge against the immigration officer who pretended to be Joel Sandaluk, on the phone.

It is a serious violation, but it actually saved time needed for a search operation and minimized the possible risk for the civilians. There is always a possibility that casual people would get hurt during the arrest. Of course this can not justify this violation, but still this situation is a clash of lawyer ethics and the effectiveness of the law. Without this fake call the search for Fabricio Campos could last few month or even years. The whole situation is similar to cop movies, where a good but reckless detective comes into the examination room and pretends to be the lawyer of the mafia family send to help the arrested mafia member. But in the movies such reckless cops usually don’t have to answer for this.

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