Rhode Island Lawyer Suspended From Practice For Forging Client's Name On Satisfaction Of Mortgage & Failing To Pay Off Debt

In Providence, Rhode Island, The Providence Journal reports:

• The state Supreme Court has barred Newport lawyer John T. Sheehan from practicing law indefinitely for violating a court order that he repay a loan to a former client. The court also suspended Sheehan’s law license for 42 months upon the resolution of that matter for a series of disciplinary infractions.

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• Sheehan asked client Mona Woo in 2006 to loan him $50,000, saying it would be secured by a mortgage on a Providence property. Sheehan executed a promissory note agreeing he would repay the loan, plus 12 percent interest, in monthly increments of $500. Sheehan also executed a mortgage deed in Woo’s name on the 61 Bergen St. property in Providence.

• In September 2006, the owner of that property, Bergen 59 Associates, sold 61 Bergen St. Sheehan, at the time, was named as managing partner of Bergen 59 Associates. Sheehan provided the buyer’s lawyer with a “discharge of mortgage” purportedly signed by Woo that released her interest in the property. Woo did not sign the discharge, and Sheehan later admitted he signed her name without her knowledge or consent, the court said.(1) Sheehan did not tell Woo the property had been sold, or that Bergen 59 Associates received $27,725 in net proceeds from the sale. He did not give her money from the sale and continued to make sporadic $500 monthly payments.

For the story, see Newport lawyer barred from practicing law.

(1) Reportedly, Sheehan, said the court, violated court rules of conduct by not informing Woo to seek independent professional advice before loaning him money and by failing to get her consent before selling the property. In addition, he engaged in dishonest conduct by forging her name and falsely notarizing her forged signature, the story states.