An
attorney in Bergen County – under federal investigation for allegedly
failing to pay $1.5 million in taxes – was disbarred after a state
ethics panel found he took $91,749 from a dead client’s trust account
for his personal use, according to court documents.
Donald
S. MacLachlan, of Allendale, was disbarred July 1 after failing to
appear before the state’s Disciplinary Review Board to answer an
accusation that he knew the money belonged to a client’s family and that
he was not authorized to use the money, court records show.
MacLachlan,
66, was suspended from practicing law on Oct. 3, 2019 after the state
received a complaint that he misappropriated funds belonging to the
estate of Guy A. Blehl, 61, of Montclair, who died of cancer in July
2016.
No criminal charges have been filed in the case. According to Law.com, MacLachlan
had created a trust on behalf of Blehl. After Blehl died, MacLachlan
collected $1 million in insurance proceeds and placed the money in three
accounts, with 50% going to Blehl’s widow, and 25% each to his son and
daughter.
But
MacLachlan allegedly made several unexplained cash withdrawals from
bank accounts associated with Blehl, according to the Disciplinary
Review Board. About $24,000 of the money went to pay for his daughter’s
horseback riding lessons on a farm in New York, according to Law.com.
MacLachlan
was disbarred for “knowing misappropriation of client funds, failure to
promptly disburse funds” and “commission of a criminal act that
reflects adversely on a lawyer’s honesty, truthfulness or fitness,”
according to the court order signed July 1.
In
February 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice sued MacLachlan, alleging
he owes more than $1.5 million in unpaid income and payroll taxes.
MacLachlan has not answered the complaint, which is pending in U.S.
District Court.
MacLachlan
was admitted to the New Jersey Bar Association in 1981. A business
phone number in his name has been disconnected. A voicemail message left
on a cellphone number in MacLachlan’s name was not immediately returned
on Thursday.
Full Article & Source:
N.J. attorney disbarred for taking more than $91K from dead client’s trust account
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