Recently-Disbarred South Florida Lawyer Agrees To Plead Guilty To Trust Account Ripoff Of Cash Belonging To Unwitting Clients

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• A recently disbarred lawyer who admits he stole about $1 million — including money from the widow and three young children of a friend who died in an accident — was jailed [] on a fraud charge.
  
  Scott Rovenger, 59, who practiced in Fort Lauderdale and Plantation, expects to serve eight years in state prison under the terms of a plea agreement reached with the Broward State Attorney's Office, his attorney, Howard Greitzer, said. Rovenger will formally plead guilty to scheming to defraud in the next few weeks and will remain locked up until he has served his full punishment, Greitzer said.
  
  Rovenger admitted that he stole from many of his clients during the past 20 years and entered into fraudulent and bogus settlements that he lied about, according to a sworn statement he gave to state prosecutors and the Broward Sheriff's Office.

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• Rovenger agreed to be disbarred in May after a Florida Bar investigation uncovered a small part of his misconduct — that he inappropriately removed money from one trust account. He was previously admonished in 2009 over a fees dispute with another lawyer.
  
  Rovenger stole money from another account to settle the case that was questioned by the Bar, court records show. He realized in the past several months that he couldn't keep doing what he'd been doing for years and decided to confess and face the consequences, his lawyer said.
  
  He confessed and provided sworn statements to former clients and others to try to help them get as much money back as possible from him and a Florida Bar fund that helps repay wronged clients.(1)

For more, see Disbarred lawyer jailed after admitting he stole about $1 million from clients.

(1) The Florida Bar's Clients' Security Fund was established to reimburse clients who have suffered a loss due to misappropriation or embezzle­ment by a Florida-licensed attorney.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help 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 recovery 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.