In 2018, I penned A Disciplined Attorney and Repercussions. That post recounts complaints against Bradley Douglas regarding the disbursement of settlement proceeds. The original post focuses on the actions of The Florida Supreme Court in response to Mr. Douglas' Petition for Disciplinary Revocation. This was essentially his request that disciplinary proceedings cease against him by The Florida Bar and Supreme Court. I was later reminded of the post when I ran across a link to a January 2020 story on NBCMiami.com.
Courtesy Broward Sheriff's Office
The next chapter of the story has then perhaps opened with the January 2020 arrest of Mr. Douglas, as reported by NBCMiami. It says that Mr. Douglas has been "arrested on a dozen grand theft charges." It recounts allegations in an arrest report that the attorney "was supposed to take his fee and disburse the remaining money to the clients, but instead, he kept all the money for himself."
Reporting from CBSMiami suggests that the investigation began with clients of Mr. Douglas making complaints to "The Florida Bar and the Davie Police Department." It says that a resulting audit of the law firm's trust account identified “multiple large cash withdrawals” for “food, Massage Envy, West Marine, [and] Marlins Stadium.” This story concludes that these expenditures were "consistent with 'personal use.'" Mr. Douglas' attorney is quoted that "people . . . make mistakes." He contends that the mistake was "an error in judgment that will be rectified." In the year since that news story, there has been no further reporting found.
This would be lamentable and troublesome if it were isolated, unique, and novel. Apparently, it is not so, unfortunately. Fifty-two-year-old Moein Marashi was admitted to The Florida Bar in 2002 and disbarred seventeen years later. He was arrested in December 2020 on:
"two counts of grand theft (100k or more), five counts of grand theft (20K or more), two counts of grand theft (10k or more but less than 20K), one count of scheme to defraud (50K or more), two counts of use of personal identification information (5K or more), one count of cash/deposit item w/intent to defraud and one count of uttering a forged instrument."
This is a tale that includes allegations of check kiting and use of "names and signatures without authorization or consent," according to WTVX television.
In October 2020, the Sun Sentinel reported on a "lucrative foreclosure fraud" allegedly perpetrated by a married couple in south Florida. The two were convicted of involvement in a group that took possession of various properties, valued at more than ten million dollars, "through the mastery of falsified paperwork." One was sentenced to life in prison, the other to 35 years.
As that prosecution progressed, authorities turned their attention to the lawyers defending the couple, one of whom was allegedly also listed as a registered agent of a company the couple started. Authorities now allege that attorneys were involved in filing documents "claiming to represent either homeowners or the legal heirs of properties." This resulted, apparently, in the disbursement of funds to the attorneys purportedly as agents for those heirs or others. Investigators reportedly allege the funds were disbursed to accounts linked to attorneys Rashida Overby, 46, and Ria Sankar-Balram, 40.
In November 2020 an attorney in New Port Richie was arrested for "misappropriating" funds. This was alleged to be "more than $100,000," according to WEAR-TV. In March, Darce Jay Snyder was arrested and accused of stealing "$279,000" by writing checks from a trust, according to the Tampa Bay Times. SFGN reported recently regarding a bankruptcy attorney in South Florida, George Castrataro, arrested and "accused of stealing the inheritances of his clients." This reportedly was "over a half-million dollars."
Lamentably, these allegations are merely examples. See, a lawyer was reportedly disbarred in February 2020 for "Stealing Client Money to Run Strip Club;" "Tampa attorney accused of withholding settlement money from teen hit by van," "Disgraced Tampa lawyer faces prison for stealing $2 million from clients," "Elected Florida prosecutor stole nearly $1 million, bribed defendants, attorneys."
An important point is that these are allegations, not convictions. That someone is accused of a crime or another misfeasance is not proof in itself of wrongdoing. But, as these stories have appeared in the news over the last year, they illustrate a troubling pattern of allegations. There is a notable volume of attorneys that are accused of misappropriation or misdirection of client's money. The volume of news coverage, even of mere allegations, may result in the public growing more wary, and distrustful, of attorneys. The profession may suffer as a result, as may the people who are served by it.
The ease of finding such allegations is troublesome. The potential that individuals have been damaged by members of this profession is more so. When those most affected are the injured and otherwise vulnerable, it seems all the more tragic. If true, of course. These are merely allegations.
