Florida Attorneys Disciplined For Playing Fast & Loose With Clients' Cash

The North Country Gazette reports that, in Florida:

• The Florida Bar, the state’s guardian for the integrity of the legal profession, has announced that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 29 attorneys, disbarring eight, suspending 13, emergency suspending two, placing three on probation and reprimanding five. Some attorneys received more than one form of discipline.

Of the 29, the following 12 have been disciplined for playing fast and loose with their clients' cash and/or property:

• Richard Charles Bagdasarian, Boca Raton, disbarred. Bagdasarian misappropriated client funds totaling more than $1.17 million from about 41 different clients and made material misrepresentations to his clients to conceal his misappropriation and conversion to his own use of the funds.

• Angelo Cappelli, St. Petersburg, disbarred. Cappelli was a trust officer in a bank and without the knowledge of or authorization from the bank opened an estate using a summary probate procedure. He then used his position to gain access to about $100,000 from a deceased customer’s estate and used about $75,000 of the funds.

• Richard Joseph Da Fonte, Clearwater, disbarred. Da Fonte served as the closing agent in one real estate transaction and represented the buyer as well as acted as closing agent and escrow agent in another. In one instance, funds were diverted that were intended to pay off two pre-existing mortgages. In the other, Da Fonte failed to tell his client or the bank making the loan that the closing had not occurred. When the bank learned that the transaction had not closed, Da Fonte failed to account for the loan proceeds and to return them to the bank.

• Chandra Parker Doucette, Boca Raton, suspended. Doucette was found in contempt of court for her failure to respond to subpoena issued by the Court, which ordered her to provide mandatory trust account records.

• Michael T. Kovach, Inverness, the subject of an emergency suspension, pursuant to an Oct. 31 court order. Kovach has failed to respond to three subpoenas commanding him to appear for a deposition and to produce trust account records. A Bar investigation indicated that he converted client funds from his trust account for his own personal purposes.

• Albert Scott Lagano, Melbourne, disbarred for 10 years. Lagano was found guilty of five counts related to trust fund shortages and the commingling of trust funds and operating funds of a number of clients. An audit found that, between August 2005 and November 2006, Lagano withdrew cash from his trust account or transferred to his office account a total of more than $1 million. He failed to maintain trust account records supporting these withdrawals and transfers.

• Peter Malo, disbarred. In August 2001, Malo was disbarred by the New York state bar based on charges of commingling and misappropriation of client funds or property.

• Joey Dean Oquist, St. Petersburg, suspended for two years. A bar auditor found evidence of shortages in Oquist’s trust account. It was determined that he failed to maintain the required cash receipts and disbursement journal and client ledger cards.

• Anthony Vincent Scalese, Pembroke Pines, suspended, until further order of the court. Scalese failed to produce trust fund records compelled by a subpoena issued in the course of a Bar investigation into the management of his trust account and was held in contempt of court.

• Marie Gilberte Thompson, Miami, disbarred. Thompson failed to comply with a subpoena for her trust account records. Records of a real estate transaction obtained from third parties showed that she received nearly $821,000 for payment of a mortgage loan. She failed to apply the trust funds to the specific purpose of paying off the mortgage and had insufficient funds to do so.

• Ruben Torrence Thompson, Miami, disbarred. Thompson failed to comply with a subpoena for his trust account records. Records of a real estate transaction obtained from third parties showed that he received nearly $821,000 for payment of a mortgage loan. He failed to apply the trust funds to the specific purpose of paying off the mortgage and had insufficient funds to do so.

• Kendrick Gerard Whittle, Miami, the subject of an emergency suspension, pursuant to an Oct. 23 court order. Whittle failed to produce bank and trust records in response to a subpoena. However, bank records show that he issued checks to himself totaling nearly $298,000 from client funds and used them to pay other clients and for personal matters such as rent, credit cards, Gables Sports Cars and Saks 5th Avenue.

Source: 29 Florida Attorneys Disciplined, Eight Disbarred. sneaky slick escrow agents beta