SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A disgraced Salt Lake City attorney who stole millions from his clients – most of whom are disabled – will have to face his victims in a courtroom on Tuesday.
In court filings ahead of his sentencing, federal prosecutors point out that 61-year-old Calvin Curtis ‘had it all’ – a legal education, a good reputation, and a successful career.
“He traded it all in for greed and avarice. And because of his actions, these victims have lost nearly everything. Not only has Curtis destroyed the lives of two dozen individuals but he also stained the reputation of the legal profession,” Assistant United State Attorney Ruth Hackford-Peer wrote in a sentencing memo.
Curtis admits he stole nearly $13-million from clients who trusted him.
[Curtis] has lost the trust and respect of many of the people who trusted or knew him, including friends and family. He will always be remembered as ‘that lawyer’; the one who embezzled millions of dollars from some of the most vulnerable people a lawyer could possibly represent,” Curtis’ attorney, Greg Skordas, wrote in a memorandum ahead of sentencing.Background: Cal stole nearly $13-million from his clients, which include disabled children and elders. He was a respected and prominent attorney but admits he stole from 'some of the most vulnerable people a lawyer could represent.' https://t.co/QPMa2kEcBS @KUTV2News
— Jeremy Harris (@JeremyHarrisTV) April 19, 2022
Federal prosecutors charged Curtis last Fall with money laundering and embezzlement, alleging he stole millions from 24 clients.
He pleaded guilty in November.
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| A disgraced Salt Lake City attorney who stole millions from his clients – most of whom are disabled – will have to face his victims in a courtroom on April 18, 2022. |
Curtis’ victims include the daughter of Matt Hess, a dairy farmer in Box Elder County who spoke with 2News shortly after Curtis’ fraud came to light.
According to court records, Curtis stole over $260,000 from the Hess family, which is the money they had set aside to make their home wheelchair accessible.
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| Matt Hess, a dairy farmer in Box Elder County, said estate attorney Calvin Curtis oversees a trust to care for his daughter who has cerebral palsy. (Photo: Jeremy Harris/KUTV) |
Another
disabled victim lost $40,000 to Curtis’ scheme. Prosecutors say that
money was needed for healthcare aid and home repairs.
Prosecutors mention other stories – but by far the victim who lost the most money to Curtis is 79-year-old Glenn McConkey.
“She became an easy target when, about eight years ago, she started showing signs of mental illness and Alzheimer’s dementia. In 2014, Curtis changed her estate documents and named himself as her trustee at a time that Ms. McConkey was incapacitated. He then stole over $10,500,000 from her trusts over the next several years,” Hackford-Peer wrote.
McConkey’s family began to raise concerns about Curtis in 2018 when attorney Laura Milliken Gray started looking into how Curtis was managing her trust.
“There were huge red flags in the way that Cal had acted,” Gray told 2News.
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| Glenn, Sherry, and Ayla McConkey (Photo: McConkey family) |
Gray and McConkey’s family believe more could – and should – have been done to stop Curtis’ fraud years ago.
“There were people who were supposed to be monitoring him that didn’t do that,” Gray said.
McConkey’s family is disappointed in Stagg Fiduciary Services – a Salt Lake City company that acts as Glenn McConkey’s conservator.
“They, in our view, have a duty to at least know what’s going on in that trust, and we believe they enabled Cal to steal money from Glenn for years by trusting him,” Gray said.
Gray represents Sherry McConkey and her daughter Ayla McConkey, the only living descendant of Glenn McConkey.
“Stagg
Fiduciary Services was paid – and continues to be paid – from Glenn’s
assets to protect her from people like Cal, but failed to do so. When I
think about Glenn, I get angry with Cal and his enablers, which is not
in my personality,” Sherry McConkey wrote in a statement. “Glenn worked
so hard her entire life and she wanted to leave a legacy to her
granddaughter and her favorite charities. But now, a greedy and evil man
stole from her, taking her wishes away and leaving her with a fraction
of her former wealth.”
For their part, Stagg denies claims they failed to protect Glen McConkey from Curtis’ fraud.
“Stagg faithfully fulfilled its duty as conservator. Any allegations to the contrary are mere allegations. There’s no evidence, no proof, of any wrongdoing by Stagg,” Michael A. Jensen, an attorney for Stagg, told 2News in a statement.
The McConkeys worry there will not be enough money to pay for Glenn McConkey’s dementia care for the rest of her life.
Gray says she does not believe the full scope of Curtis’ fraud is known yet.
Cal Curtis 'had it all' - a good reputation and a successful career.
— Jeremy Harris (@JeremyHarrisTV) April 19, 2022
"But he traded it all in for greed and avarice"
He'll face his victims tomorrow, but some wonder if more could - or should - have been done to stop his multi-million dollar fraud sooner. @KUTV2News at 10 pic.twitter.com/KUSlm56A7p
“We fought, and continue to fight, this David vs. Goliath fight to
discover the truth. He did stall, he came up with every excuse in the
book and I’m on the other side screaming with my hair on fire saying
‘don’t trust this guy’,” Gray said.
Prosecutors and Curtis’ defense attorney both asked a federal judge to impose a prison term of 73-months in prison and restitution of over $12-million.
Curtis will appear in court on Tuesday afternoon to be sentenced. His victims are expected to address the court prior to his sentence being imposed.
Curtis has been in the Salt Lake County Jail since January when prosecutors alleged he was continuing to run up his credit cards and pay expenses for his girlfriend in Florida.
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