Carrollton Lawyer Under Investigation for Alleged Theft

Authorities are looking deeper into the bank records of a Carrollton lawyer accused of forging records and stealing tens of thousands of dollars from at least one client.

Capt. Jeff Richards of the Carroll County Sheriff's Department said in a written statement that the investigation "has produced more than one victim, and [investigators] believe that more victims will surface."

Sheriff's deputies arrested Robert B. Eddleman on Oct. 9 and charged him with forgery and theft by taking. Eddleman, who was released the same day on a recognizance bond, could not be reached for comment. (Calls to his office were directed to his voicemail and his firm's website no longer appears to be operational.)

The charges stem from an allegation by a former client whose mother paid Eddleman approximately $20,000 earlier this year to represent him in a criminal proceeding, Richards said.

"The client was desirous of getting bond so he could return to work," said Richards.

Eddleman and his friend Joseph Matt Rooks, who is not an attorney, are accused of filing forged power of attorney documents with the Carroll County Superior Court Clerk's office and sending a forged resignation letter to the client's employer so that they could obtain $30,000 from the client's retirement account, Richards said. The pair deposited the money into Eddleman's trust account and then immediately withdrew the money.

Rooks, who is related to the client, also is charged with forgery and theft, Richards said. He was released from jail on Oct. 10 on $10,000 bond. Investigators do not believe Rooks is associated with any of the other instances under investigation.

Richards said investigators are trying to verify allegations that Eddleman may have kept money issued to another client in a wrongful termination suit in early 2013 and that Eddleman may have forged documents to alter the terms of settlement in a third, unrelated case.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the Eddleman matter, Richards said.

"The GBI financial analysis unit and investigators are doing a forensic review of Eddleman's trust account and preparing flow charts of the disbursement of funds," he said.

Eddleman, who earned his law degree from Georgia State University and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 2005, does not have a public disciplinary history. Richards said the sheriff's department has been in contact with bar officials, but State Bar General Counsel Paula Frederick would not discuss whether the bar was investigating.

Another Carrollton attorney, Joseph Nathaniel Harden, in August pleaded guilty to criminal charges of bilking 30 clients of more than half a million dollars, the Times-Georgian reported. His plea came two years after the state Supreme Court accepted Harden's voluntary surrender of his law license, which is the equivalent of a disbarment.

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Carrollton Lawyer Under Investigation for Alleged Theft