Disbarred Lawyer Cops Plea In $2.4M+ Client Trust/Escrow Funds Swindle; Admits Snatching Closing Cash Meant For Loan Payoffs, Ripping Off Dead Client

In Broward County, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• A disbarred Fort Lauderdale attorney pleaded guilty Thursday to a mail fraud charge, admitting he ripped off clients of more than $2.4 million. Joseph Sindaco, who practiced law in South Florida for three decades, stole from four clients' trust funds and used the money to pay personal expenses. He had specialized in estate and trust cases and real estate closings.

• Sindaco, 63, now faces up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced Feb. 24 by U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn. The recommended federal sentencing guidelines call for Sindaco to serve a prison term of at least 41 months, according to his plea agreement. In addition, he agreed to pay $2.4 million in restitution to his four victims. One of them lost $1.8 million. Sindaco's attorney, Robert Trachman, did not return a call to his office on Thursday.

• Sindaco cut a deal in August with the Florida Bar to surrender his law license and be disbarred for five years. He admitted during those proceedings he misappropriated about $445,000 from two clients. The mail fraud charge against Sindaco arose from his handling of the estate of Werner Clauss, an 82-year-old who died at a Lauderdale Lakes nursing home in 2008. Sindaco liquidated Clauss' investment account and transferred the money to his law firm's trust account, according to federal court records.

• Sindaco was supposed to send the money to one of Clauss' cousins but never did, according to Florida Bar records. The cousin alleged in a state court lawsuit that Sindaco claimed multiple times that a check was on the way, but it never came. The former attorney admitted he stole the $2.4 million from April 2006 to December 2009.(1)

Source: Disbarred attorney admits stealing $2.4 million (Joseph Sindaco faces up to 20 years in prison).

For the U.S. Attorney (Fort Lauderdale) press release, see Broward Lawyer Pleads Guilty To Stealing More Than $2 Million From Trust Funds:

• As an attorney, he handled real estate closings for clients, mortgage lenders and estate transactions. In this capacity, Sindaco misappropriated approximately $2,4443,857 of funds that were supposed to be used to pay off prior loans and also clients’ funds from his law firm’s trust account. Instead of using the money as directed, however, Sindaco stole the money and sent letters to clients falsely stating that he was holding their money or disbursing it according to their directions.

(1) The victims in this story may be able to turn to the The Florida Bar's Clients' Security Fund (which was created to help reimburse clients for money they may have lost because of misappropriation or embezzle­ment by their attorneys) to recover some, if not all, of the swindled money.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (now includes Canadian client protection funds; courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.