Fraud of the Week

November 21, 2016

Contractor Fraud—Florida

Amount: $1.6 million

 

An attorney in Pembroke Pines, Florida, pleaded guilty to thirteen counts of grand theft in Brownard Circuit Court. He was disbarred in March of 2013, a month before he was arrested and thirty-eight years after he was admitted to the Florida Bar.

 

This attorney represented insurance companies who were attempting to recover damages from at-fault parties involved with claims. In his scheme he would tell client representatives that the claim had not been resolved, recommend that the representative close the file, then negotiate settlements without the client's permission and keep the money from the settlements for personal use.

 

The attorney used over 1.6 million dollars of funds that belonged to his clients, committed forgery and false notarization, and failed to keep proper trust and accounting records. His scheme might have lasted until the end of his career, but another attorney reported his actions to the Florida Bar.

 

The guilty attorney will have to spend seven years in prison, pay restitution of $408,000, and spend ten years on probation after his release from prison.