Tuesday, April 16, 2013

South Florida Attorney Reported Missing ... Along With At Least $6M Cash From Law Firm's Firm's Trust & Title Company Accounts

In Boca Raton, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:
  • Police are investigating the mysterious disappearance of a Palm Beach County real estate attorney who was last seen 11 days ago.

    Also missing, according to the attorney's partner: at least $6 million from the firm's trust accounts.

    Timothy P. McCabe, 55, of Boca Raton, was last seen on April 2, according to a missing person's report made to Boca Raton police on April 5 by McCabe's wife Donna.

    His friends and family say they don't know what to think about his disappearance, or if it is related to the Lake Worth firm's missing money.

    Boca Raton police spokesman Mark Economou said McCabe's wife told police she grew concerned after she heard from a friend of McCabe's on April 5. The friend said he had heard from McCabe by phone, who said it would be the last time they talk.

    According to reports from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, McCabe told the friend, "this is the last time we talk."

    McCabe's wife filed the missing person report that same day.

    Up until she received that phone call, Economou said, McCabe's wife assumed her husband had been away on a business-related trip to Tampa and Orlando. Boca Raton police investigated McCabe's cellphone records and discovered that when he had called the friend on April 5, he was in South Carolina.

    Still, police had no obvious reason to believe that McCabe was anything other than an adult who had gone somewhere on his own accord.

    "It was determined at that point that he wasn't in any harm," Economou said, adding the case is still open. "Until any more information comes in, he's basically an adult that left."

    McCabe's law firm partner at McCabe and Samiljan LLC, Steve Samiljan, said Friday that he estimates that "at least" $6 million is missing from the firm's trust and title company accounts. But he also added he is concerned about McCabe's well-being.

    "We're concerned about him," Samiljan said Friday. "He's a son, he's a husband and he's a father and I've known him for 17 years."

    Samiljan said that since April 5, he has spent most of his days talking to clients who have come by the office asking questions about the missing money. He said he contacted the sheriff's office, the Florida Bar, and has been working with title insurance underwriters to "figure out the extent and damage."

    "I can tell you that a lot of money is missing and that a lot of clients are hurt," Samiljan said. "It's been devastating for the clients, for my employees and for myself."(1)
For more, see Palm Beach County attorney missing, as is at least $6M from firm.

(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:

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