A one-time northern Indiana trial court judge who is
accused in lawsuits of taking money from two estates in cases he
represented has resigned from the Indiana bar rather than face
disciplinary proceedings related to his misconduct.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday accepted the
resignation of Monon lawyer Robert V. Monfort. In resigning, Monfort
acknowledged that there was a Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary
Commission proceeding alleging misconduct and that he could not
successfully defend himself if prosecuted.
Montfort, who once presided as a Jasper Superior Court
judge, has not been criminally charged, but lawsuits filed on behalf of
charities in Rensselaer allegt he and/or his law office misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars
that a deceased widow bequeathed to community charities.The commission
filed a disciplinary complaint April 27 accusing Monfort of criminal
acts and “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or
misrepresentation,” among a litany of other ethical charges.
The discipline case against Monfort arises from two estate
matters he handled that resulted in litigation in Jasper Superior Court
against him and his law firm.
In one case, charities that stood to benefit from an
elderly widow’s estate accuse Monfort of undue influence over Rose
Jennette Nagel that “resulted in more than $600,000 in damages” to a
Catholic school and the Jasper Newton Foundation, which the suit says
stood to benefit from her bequests. The suit also makes claims of
negligence and improper estate administration, and contests Nagel’s
probated will that would have instead left her estate to an employee in
Monfort’s office who also had served as personal representative for
Nagel’s estate.
Monfort also is accused of attorney misconduct in handling
the estate of Anthony Kaczorowski, who died intestate in 2014. Among
other things, the commission says as recently as 2019, Monfort swore an
affidavit that Kaczorowski had no known heirs, which he knew to be
false. The commission likewise levels allegations of criminal conduct
and fraud in Monfort’s handling of that case.
The commission alleged Monfort consumed nearly all of the
$114,000 in Kaczorowski’s liquid estate assets through estate
administration expenses, inappropriate fees and“unjustified payments to
respondent and his office staff,” and more.
Meanwhile, Monfort faces one other civil lawsuit alleging
professional negligence in his office’s handling of a third estate case,
that of John Garling. Garling’s estate alleges, among other things,
that the case dragged on for more than five years while a personal
representative appointed at Monfort’s request caused assets to be
dissipated and “may have taken certain assets for his own personal use.”
The suit also alleges a house belonging to Garling’s estate was sold for an amount significantly below fair market value.
Monfort was judge of Jasper Superior Court 2 from
1994-2000. The Indiana General Assembly dissolved the court, a decision
affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2000.
Monfort, who was admitted to the bar in 1988, was previously suspended
for 30 days with automatic reinstatement for helping a client in 2009
who previously had been a defendant in a drunken-driving case in which
Monfort had presided as judge.
Full Article & Source:
Former judge accused of defrauding estates resigns from bar
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