California Lawyer Gets Convicted, Then Disbarred For Role In Conspiracy That Used Forged Deeds To Hijack Title To Three Condos From Unwitting Owner, Then Pledge Them As Collateral To Pocket $1.7 Million In Loans

In San Francisco, California, the Northern California Record reports:

• Melvin Lee Emerich, an attorney who practiced in Los Altos, was disbarred [] as a result of his [] conviction for accessory to felony grand theft, multiple counts of money laundering and filing false or forged deeds of trust.
  
  According to the California Bar document, Emerich was involved in a real estate scheme orchestrated by his friend Jay Shah and another man, Kaushal Niroula, to obtain fraudulent loans on properties they did not own, including three condominiums in San Francisco and a Palm Springs property that belonged to a man Niroula is accused of murdering to further the scheme.
  
  “Unbeknownst to the San Francisco property owner, one of Shah’s accomplices was able to get three grant deeds that conveyed ownership of the condos to himself,” the document said. “They were used as security to obtain $1.7 million in loans. Emerich set up a phony corporation and opened a corporate checking account to hold funds from the scheme.”
  
  Furthermore, the evidence reportedly showed that Emerich helped Shah launder the illegally obtained loan funds and wrote multiple checks from the account to himself, Shah’s company and others, Emerich also funneled funds through his sham company to pay for Niroula’s defense in his murder trial.

For more, see Los Altos attorney disbarred for conviction of accessory to felony grand theft, other charges.