Disbarred 2 1/2 Years Ago For Fleecing $200K From One Client, Ex-Lawyer Now Faces Criminal Charges For Ripping Off Over $300K From Another Client

In Santa Ana, California, The Orange County Register reports:

• A disbarred Newport Beach attorney made his initial court appearance Monday, April 3, on felony charges of stealing more than $300,000 from a client.(1)
  
  Patrick Lund, who was disbarred in October 2014, was arrested Friday [March 31] on a criminal complaint filed in February, charging him with attempted theft from an elder adult, grand theft, attempted grand theft and theft from an elder adult.
  
  Lund also faces sentence-enhancing allegations of property damage exceeding $200,000 and aggravated white-collar crime exceeding $100,000.
  
  In the spring of 2013, Lund agreed to help a 73-year-old client "facilitate the process" of paying back a $290,000 loan, but instead pocketed the money, changed his phone numbers and moved to Arizona, Senior Deputy District Attorney Pete Pierce alleged.
  
  Lund charged a fee of $12,500 to the client, Pierce said.
  
  According to the State Bar of California, Lund misappropriated nearly $200,000 from another client "for his own purposes" in 2011. Lund paid back $130,500, but never gave back the rest, according to the State Bar.

Source: Disbarred Newport Beach attorney in court on charges he stole $300,000 from client.

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(1) The California State Bar's Client Security Fund is a discretionary fund that can reimburse clients who have lost money or property due to theft or dishonesty by a California lawyer. It is a State Bar program funded entirely by California lawyers. The amount the fund may reimburse for theft committed by a California lawyer depends on when the loss occurred. A maximum of $50,000 is reimbursable if the loss occurred before January 1, 2009. A maximum of $100,000 is reimbursable if the loss occurred on or after January 1, 2009.

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 (February 2017) (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.