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Prison threat for solicitor who must remove own name from roll
A lawyer found guilty of criminal contempt was given a one-year suspended sentence on the condition he “promptly apply” to have his name removed from the roll of barristers and solicitors.
Naomi Neilson
Justice Mark Richmond of the NSW Supreme Court wholly suspended Ronglai (Martin) Zhang’s six-month imprisonment term on several conditions, including that he apply to have his name removed from the Victorian Supreme Court’s roll of solicitors.
Last May, in breach of freezing orders made in July 2018, Zhang was found to have authorised $900,000 in payments to a bank account on three separate occasions in November 2020.
The transactions were designed to give the appearance the bank account had a balance of slightly more than $900,000 when it did not and would hide the fact that Zhang had withdrawn $900,000 from this account in March 2020 to repay a separate loan.
Zhang was also found guilty of a failure to apply net proceeds of a property sale in accordance with an undertaking. Most of those funds were used to make the $900,000 deposit subject to the first charge.
By last May, Zhang had already been convicted for firearm offences, drug-related offences, assault, driving offences, and possession of stolen goods. He was incarcerated from March to September 2024 for offences unrelated to the contempt proceedings.
In his affidavit, Zhang offered the court his “deep regret” and apology, acknowledged he was no longer a fit and proper person, and said he was prepared to have his name struck from the roll.
“I am committed to ensuring that such breaches will not occur again because I am prepared to have my name struck from the roll of the Supreme Court of Victoria,” Zhang said.
CLGC Investment, the plaintiffs in the proceedings, said Zhang’s actions caused them a direct loss of “almost $1 million” and submitted the appropriate penalty would be a custodial sentence.
While his prior convictions were different from those in the present case, CLGC argued Zhang has “repeated” several of the same offences, and this should be relevant to the court’s penalty decision.
“Having previously been given repeated opportunities not to offend and not to breach court orders, he has repeatedly failed to do so,” CLGC said.
While Justice Richmond acknowledged the objective seriousness of the contempt was high, he accepted Zhang’s submissions that it did not involve a public defiance of the court’s orders.
Further, in dismissing submissions made by CLGC, Justice Richmond found Zhang did not receive a benefit when he made the transfer and the $900,000 was replenished in March 2021.
Justice Richmond said a term of imprisonment was warranted, but he said it should be wholly suspended for a period of one year.
In addition to applying for the removal of his name from the roll, Zhang must be of good behaviour, engage in 40 hours of community service if deemed suitable by Corrective Services NSW, and continue to comply with his mental health treatment plan.
“Bearing in mind that imprisonment is a punishment of last resort, I consider that a suspended sentence on these relatively onerous conditions is an alternative course that is appropriate in the circumstances,” Justice Richmond said.
“If Zhang breaches any of the conditions, he will be at risk of the suspension of the sentence being lifted. Compliance with these conditions and the risk of imprisonment if he does not is adequate in all the circumstances to vindicate the authority of this court.”
The case is CLGC Pty Ltd v Zhang (No 3) NSWSC 36 (10 February 2025).
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
