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| Disbarred attorney Thomas Schindler moved money around to defraud a divorcing couple of the money from the sale of their home, the Chester County District Attorney's Office alleges. (Chester County District Attorney's Office) |
CHESTER COUNTY, PA — A disbarred attorney finagled to keep almost $1 million as a divorcing Easttown Township couple sold their home, in a series of fraudulent transfers of their money into several of his accounts, authorities allege.
The Chester County District Attorney's Office and Easttown Township Police Department announce disbarred attorney Thomas K. Schindler is charged with theft, forgery, criminal use of a communication facility, and related offenses.
The charges stem from a 2018 financial agreement with a couple seeking a divorce, during which Schindler allegedly failed to make required transfers of more than $990,000 in proceeds from the sale of their house.
In August 2018, a couple in the process of divorcing agreed that the proceeds from the sale of their house would be held in an interest-bearing account controlled by Schindler Law Group LLC., the defendant's law practice that represented one of the alleged victims.
When the house was sold in March 2020, $991,405 was transferred to a Key Bank account in the name of Schindler's law practice. Throughout the next seven months — until November 2020 —neither of the two whose house was sold received any money from the defendant, despite repeated requests to get it, the D.A.'s report said.
Schindler was subsequently disbarred from practicing law by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in July 2020 for an unrelated case. After the disbarment, neither of the clients could reach Schindler regarding the money he owed them.
Chester
County District Attorney Deb Ryan said, "The defendant abused his
position of trust and used every delay tactic possible to hide his
illegal financial activity from these victims. He will be held
accountable for his greed and all the money he stole. No one is above
the law."
In October 2020, a Court of Common Pleas judge granted an Emergency Petition that requested all monies from the house proceeds be transferred to a Pitcairn Trust Company account shared by the couple, according to the report.
But in November 2020, after no money had been transferred, the couple went to the Easttown Township Police Department.
That same day, a representative of Pitcairn Trust notified the complainant that $25,000 had been transferred from Schindler's account at Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, according to the criminal complaint.
Over the next three weeks, another $225,000 was transferred to Schindler's account. None of the $250,000 in transfers originated from the Key Bank account where the money was legally required to be held, the complaint said.
During the investigation, law enforcement discovered a series of deposits, withdrawals, and transfers to and from the defendant's accounts at Key Bank, including a $991,628 deposit to the Schindler Law Group LLC's account in March 2020, according to the criminal complaint.
It was later discovered that money was moved between Key Bank accounts held by Schindler Law Group LLC and Waterbury Kitchen and Bath LLC, where Schindler and another partner are co-signers on both accounts, according to the report.
The Schindler Law Group LLC account was closed in June 2020, with the remaining $352,564 transferred to an account under Schindler's name. That account was then closed in July 2020 with money transferred to another Key Bank account, the report said. No money was transferred to the couple's Pitcairn Trust account, according to the criminal complaint.
On March 8, 2021, $170,000 was transferred to the Pitcairn Trust account from a PNC account held by the defendant, according to the report. To date, the defendant has failed to transfer over $570,000 to the couple, the District Attorney's report said.
Schindler was arraigned on June 16 before Magisterial District Judge Thomas Tartaglio. Bail was set at $25,000, and the preliminary hearing is scheduled on June 23.
Easttown Township Police Chief David Obzud said, "This arrest is a great example of a collaborative effort between our police department and the D.A.'s Office. In a very complex case, it took everyone's help to get to this point."
Easttown Township Police and Chester County Detectives are investigating. Deputy District Attorney William Judge is the assigned prosecutor.
Anyone with
information regarding this case is asked to please call Det. Andrew
Tritz at 610-341-9780 or Det. Keith Cowdright at 610-344-6866.
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