Jefferson City woman charged with elder exploitation in Cole County

by Max Quinn

A warrant was issued Thursday for a Jefferson City woman accused of financially exploiting a nursing home resident, according to court documents.

Amy Shoup is charged with financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person and misappropriation of funds of an elderly nursing home resident.

She allegedly spent $52,494.91 of the victim's money between Aug. 26, 2024, and June 1 while the victim was living in a nursing home, according to a probable cause statement.

Shoup held durable power of attorney over the victim and was in charge of paying for the victim's nursing home bills, according to the statement.

The nursing home the victim lived in was sold in November 2025. Shoup owed the old company $67,000 and the new one $16,000, according to the statement.

Only sporadic attempts have been made to pay those balances, according to court documents.

The victim said Shoup was not permitted to use their money for anything except for their care. The victim has not seen their debit card nor identification card since they were admitted into the home, according to the probable cause statement.

Shoup admitted to investigators that she had not paid the nursing home bills despite paying her own bills with the victims' funds, according to the probable cause statemnet.

Shoup has a $50,000 surety bond and a warrant out for her arrest. 

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 Jefferson City woman charged with elder exploitation in Cole County

Arrest warrant issued for Bullitt County lawyer accused of stealing from grieving families

by Lauren Adams

BULLITT COUNTY, Ky. — For weeks, Hillview Police Detective Chris Boone has poured over hundreds of pages of checks.

"There's one for $12,000, $10,000, $71,000. There's a $30,000 deposit," Boone said, flipping through the photo copied pages.

Boone says they were all signed by lawyer John Schmidt during his time as Bullitt County's Master Commissioner. But instead of helping people settle their estates, investigators say Schmidt was stealing from them.

"There was people relying on these payments from their estates and were told to trust the system the money will come to you as it’s supposed to and their money was missing," Boone said.

In one case, an estate set up for a man, and passed to his children when he died was cleared out. Debbie Cain says Schmidt went to the bank and emptied out her sons' $247,000 account.

"When I found out about this furious is an understatement. I mean, I was livid when I found out that money was gone," Cain said.

According to court documents filed just this week it appears those thefts go back almost 20 years. In fact, it was a state audit done back in 2004 that first noted there seemed to be a misappropriation of funds.

"The thing that really bothers me about this is the amount of time it went on and the amount of time it went on without being addressed when it should have been addressed. A lot of these people wouldn’t be in the position they’re in if this would have been addressed when it was first an issue," Boone said.

That's victims like Cain's sons. They were defrauded in 2019, the same year Schmidt was removed from his position. Investigators say it was long after the damage was done. They believe he got away with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"I just, God, I hope they catch this man, I really, really hope they get him," Cain said.

The warrant for Schmidt's arrest is for charges of theft and abuse of public trust. Anyone who might have been a victim or knows the whereabouts of Schmidt is asked to call police at (502) 955-6808.

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Arrest warrant issued for Bullitt County lawyer accused of stealing from grieving families

Why it took so long to bring a disbarred Middle Tennessee lawyer to justice

by Dennis Ferrier

SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WZTV) — Even though he had at least 127 victims, it took years to bring Hendersonville’s Andy Allman to justice.

Why did it take so long? Partly because Allman is a lawyer and he is convicted of robbing people with a pen, paper and smile. But for many of his victims, it would have been better to have been robbed at gunpoint.

Back in early 2017, FOX 17 News packed the station with Allman’s alleged victim. Horror story after horror story. At the time, Allman’s law license was merely suspended but had been under investigation since 2014. A secret investigation. His clients had no idea who they were hiring.

Allman is accused of stealing Cathy Brown's entire inheritance: $230,000. Much of that money was supposed to go to her nephew Baylor Bramble, the Murfreesboro teen horrifically injured in a high school football game.

Andy Allman (Sumner County Jail)

Cathy Brown created a whole group of Allman victims, that’s how we all met. FOX 17 News started putting the pressure on the board of professional responsibility to do something significant and finally, in 2018, he was disbarred.

“That took longer than it should have for sure. I really think your story prompted that to happen. I yelled, fussed, sent letters complaining, didn’t get anywhere but when your story broke it put pressure on them to disbar him. They had a stack this big of complaints and they hadn’t done anything about it until then,” said Brown.

The board of professional responsibility that oversees lawyers says it just took time, there were so many complaints from so many people and everything had to be thoroughly investigated.

Meanwhile, the criminal charges percolated. After being arrested for the Bramble theft, Allman was charged with 18 counts of felony theft in Sumner County.

Kevin Dycus hired Allman to put his late wife’s insurance policy in his son’s name, the $106,000 disappeared the next day.

“I guess I was just naïve and expected he’s going to go to jail that day. Andy’s knowledge of the legal system he was able to game it for some time,” said Dycus.

He would hire and fire lawyers, and get delay after delay. Finally, Sumner County Judge Dee Gay said enough, we are going to trial. Allman represented himself in Sumner County.

The jury found him guilty of 18 counts of felony theft—a possible but improbable 81 years in jail.

The victims are thrilled, but they will not get back any of the $1.1 million owed them, and it’s actually more. Noreen Gibbons didn’t just lose her legal fees, she lost her case, she missed all the deadlines, she says she lost more than a million dollars by hiring Allman, who at the time was in big trouble with the board of professional responsibility. But again, it was a secret investigation.

“He shouldn’t even have had his license to practice law when I hired him. It had already been established that there were multiple complaints and there was no way of knowing that,” said Gibbons.

During the trial, it came out how quickly Allman converted the client's money into his money.

It was just enlightening to see how fast the money would go in and how quickly it would go into Andy’s trust and then dispersed into personal finances, business expenses, european vacations, almost 20 thousand dollar engagement rings, an Alaska trip, boats, clubs,” said Kevin Dycus.

Brown still waits for her justice in Davidson County and her opportunity to address Andy Allman.

“I don’t know if I even have words that I want to say to him. He caused delays in my nephew’s treatment. Caused duress on our whole family. He tore my whole life apart. I lived with such guilt for so long that I chose him for my attorney and he betrayed me,” said Brown.

I spoke with the prosecutor in the case Thomas Dean. He wrote:

This victory belongs to the victims. They testified and had to endure cross examination by Mr. Allman himself. Each of them honestly demonstrated the painful circumstances of their cases. All withstood the travail of testifying and being cross examined by someone who they once trusted as their attorney. Their testimony was the lynchpin to our success. The thanks, handclaps, and hugs from the victims after a hard-fought verdict like this one are the things a prosecutor remembers and cherishes long after the details of a trial fade from memory.

Sentencing is scheduled for mid-January.

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Why it took so long to bring a disbarred Middle Tennessee lawyer to justice 

 

See Also: 

Attorney again charged with theft as trial nears 

 

FERRIER FILES: Disbarred lawyer arrested again

 

 

Attorney again charged with theft as trial nears

by Tena Lee

Andy Allman

A Hendersonville attorney scheduled to go to trial next week for stealing money from several clients was booked into jail on Monday on an additional theft charge.

Andy Allman, 50, was indicted by a Sumner County grand jury on charges of theft of more than $10,000 and falsely representing himself as a lawyer, according to court documents filed March 5. He was arrested March 9, and is being held on a $2.5 million bond.

A once popular attorney and former candidate for state representative, Allman was temporarily suspended by the Supreme Court of Tennessee’s Board of Professional Responsibility in September 2016 after complaints of misconduct and the misappropriation of funds. He was disbarred from practicing law in 2018.

His arrest comes exactly one week before a jury trial is set to begin in Sumner County Criminal Court where he is charged with 35 crimes that allegedly occurred over a four-year period between Dec. 2012 and Dec. 2016.

Following an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, a Sumner County grand jury indicted him on 28 charges in Aug. 2017. A separate grand jury indicted him in Dec. 2017 on 11 more charges.

The charges included 12 counts of theft of $1,000 to $10,000; 12 counts of theft of $2,500 to $10,000; 9 counts of falsely representing himself as a lawyer; two counts of theft of $10,000 to $60,000; two counts of theft of $60,000 to $250,000; impersonating a licensed professional and practicing law without a license. Four of the theft charges were dismissed by prosecutors in June of 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

According to the most recent indictment, Allman unlawfully took control of more than $54,000 by telling and convincing the victim that the property was in a trust account when it had in fact been unlawfully converted and used by Allman. The disbarred attorney also falsely represented himself as a lawyer to the same victim from August of 2019 until February of 2020, the indictment states.

Sumner County Assistant District Attorney Ron Blanton said the most recent case was also investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations.

Blanton said he hopes the new charges won’t delay next week’s trial.

“We are opposed to any continuance,” he added. “We’re ready to go.”

Allman’s trial is expected to last two weeks and will include more than 60 alleged victims and other witnesses, according to Blanton.

Allman is also charged with theft of $60,000 to $250,000 in Davidson County for allegedly depositing a $230,000 check belonging to a client into one of his personal accounts. That trial is scheduled to begin April 13.

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Attorney again charged with theft as trial nears

Judge: Guardian must return $3.8 million in Gadsden case

By William Thornton

An Etowah County woman will end up returning more than $3.85 million to her mother’s estate as the result of a judge’s ruling.

The case, decided last month in Etowah County Circuit Court, dealt with the conservatory and custodial duties of a woman appointed co-conservator of her mother. Circuit Judge George Day Jr., ruled that the woman, who has not been charged with any crime, “breached her fiduciary duty to her mother’s Conservatorship estate, has failed to properly account for her actions and the funds and assets under her control, all of which has caused substantial damage” to the estate.

Additionally, the Court awarded a judgment against the daughter in relation to the custodial accounts for the incapacitated woman’s granddaughter, totaling $393,509.

Chris Hamer and Rebecca Wright of the Hamer Law Group represented the incapacitated woman’s conservator, an attorney who was appointed after the daughter resigned as conservator. The case has also generated a federal court action.

“This case represents the most egregious breach of fiduciary duties we’ve ever seen," Hamer said in a statement. “Cases involving misappropriation and misuse of assets by family members appointed as fiduciaries are especially distressing for all involved.”

As a result of the decision, all money in the estate has been accounted for, attorneys said. According to court documents, the daughter of the incapacitated woman became conservator of her then-77-year-old mother in 2014. The woman, who died earlier this year, had 12 children.

The daughter in 2017 filed a petition for partial settlement with the Etowah County Probate Court, alleging that more than $9 million from the estate and its holdings came into her hands during the prior three-year period of her conservatorship, and about $2.57 million remained in the conservatorship estate. The woman paid out about $3.9 million to family members.

The case was removed from probate to circuit court in February 2018 and a Gadsden attorney was appointed as guardian ad litem for the incapacitated woman. A month later, the daughter resigned as co-conservator and paid $1.34 million to the court.

According to documents, she attributed about $306,000 for a return of payments to her personal credit card, $760,000 to her personal E*TRADE account, and $275,000 to transfers out of the conservatorship to herself. The $3.8 million in the judge’s decision includes what she has already paid back.

Another attorney was appointed conservator in the daughter’s place, who then retained Hamer Law Group to represent him in the final settlement and accounting of the daughter’s conservatorship.

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Judge: Guardian must return $3.8 million in Gadsden case

Appeals Court Affirms 7-Year Sentence for Disbarred Attorney in $100K Theft Case

A New Jersey appeals court has refused to overturn the conviction and seven-year prison sentence handed to a disbarred Monmouth County attorney and failed political candidate who a jury decided misappropriated more than $100,000 from an estate.

A three-judge Appellate Division panel in an unpublished decision brushed aside a slew of objections raised by the ex-lawyer, Eugene Lavergne, to how his 2014 trial was handled.

While there were errors during the trial made by the judge and prosecutors, none warranted setting aside the conviction for second-degree misappropriation of entrusted property and fourth-degree contempt, wrote Appellate Division Judge Greta Gooden Brown, joined by Judges Marie Simonelli and Michael Haas.

Meanwhile, Lavergne’s counsel has vowed to appeal the case further.

Deputy Attorney General Evgeniya Sitnikova, who handled the appeal for the state, issued a statement.

“We are pleased that the Appellate Division affirmed defendant’s convictions and sentence. Mr. Lavergne received a fair trial and was justly convicted of abusing the trust placed in him as an attorney by stealing well over $100,000 from his clients. This seven-year prison sentence should deter other attorneys from betraying their fiduciary duties in such an egregious manner,” Sitnikova said.

Lavergne’s attorney, Wall solo Robert Pierce, said he was “sort of in shock” from the ruling, given what he said were the numerous trial errors, ranging from the erroneous admission of evidence to issues of prosecutorial conduct.

“We intend to file for certification to the  Supreme Court immediately,” Pierce said.

Lavergne, meanwhile, remains free on $85,000 bail on the condition that he not leave the country.

Lavergne was disbarred shortly after his sentence.

Lavergne, while under indictment, ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014 on a combined Democratic-Republican Party ticket, but was handily defeated by Democrat Cory Booker.

He also ran for U.S. Senate in 2012 as the “No Slogan Party” candidate.

Lavergne’s legal woes began in July 2006, when Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cavanagh Jr. put him in charge of selling a marina in Avon-by-the-Sea.

The marina eventually sold for $800,000 and, after taxes and expenses were deducted, $502,193 was deposited into his attorney trust account, according to the ruling. Cavanagh ordered Lavergne to withhold at least $200,000 while other legal issues were pending.

Over the next several months, authorities said, Lavergne made at least 130 unauthorized withdrawals—totaling more than $108,000—from the trust fund and used the funds for personal purposes, according to the ruling.

At the time, Lavergne said the charges, brought by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, were “frivolous.”

He did not present any defense witnesses at his trial, according to the appeals court ruling.

Lavergne had been in ethics trouble before his criminal case. In 2011, the New Jersey Supreme Court censured and kept him on indefinite suspension for failing to surrender files to a client who had fired him.

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Appeals Court Affirms 7-Year Sentence for Disbarred Attorney in $100K Theft Case

Ex-Atlanta attorney indicted in $250,000 theft of client fees

A former Atlanta attorney was indicted on 30 theft by taking by fiduciary and two forgery counts Tuesday nearly four years after allegations arose that he stole more than $266,000 from clients.

A grand jury issued the indictment against Robert Thompson Jr., 65, Fulton County District Attorney spokesman Dontaye Carter said in a release.

During the initial investigation in May 2014, police discovered Thompson misappropriated more than $75,000 from seven clients, Carter said. Once the case got to the district attorney’s office, authorities identified 22 other victims and revealed Thompson allegedly misappropriated more than $191,000.

Thompson, who specialized in foreclosures, was disbarred by the Georgia Supreme Court in February 2015. He had practiced law for nearly 40 years.

Carter said if convicted, Thompson could face 480 years in prison.

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Ex-Atlanta attorney indicted in $250,000 theft of client fees

Daughter swiped $75K from dead mother's estate, prosecutor says

MOONACHIE - A borough woman was arrested Monday after investigators determined she misappropriated and spent $75,000 in death benefits left by her mother for two other heirs, authorities said.

Lydia Ratchinsky (BCPO)

Lydia Ratchinsky, 46, was named a fiduciary and executrix of her late mother's estate, which was valued at more than $400,000 in 2014, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal.

The estate was to be equally distributed to numerous heirs, including two who were to receive money when they turned 21, Grewal said in a statement.

The prosecutor did not name the heirs or describe their relationship to Ratchinsky's mother.

"In 2016, when one of the remaining shares of the will was to be distributed, it was determined that there were insufficient funds in the account which held the trust," Grewal said.

An audit of the trust account revealed that more than $75,000 had been removed and spent by Ratchinsky "in violation of her duties as a fiduciary," Grewal said.

Ratchinsky was arrested in Paramus and charged with misapplication of entrusted property, Grewal said.

A first appearance was set for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 22 in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, Grewal said.

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Daughter swiped $75K from dead mother's estate, prosecutor says

Prominent Muskegon attorney faces discipline over thousands kept from former firm

Shawn P. Davis

MUSKEGON, MI – Shawn P. Davis, a prominent Muskegon criminal-defense and divorce attorney, faces possible disbarment for misappropriating thousands of dollars from the law firm for which he used to work.

The conduct, which Davis has admitted, lasted at least from 2007 until his partners confronted him and terminated him from Nolan & Nolan & Shafer PLC in August 2011. Since then, Davis has continued to practice law in Muskegon in a solo practice.

Davis admitted intentionally keeping cash and checks that many of his clients paid him, money he was supposed to turn over to the firm.

After his partners confronted him, he agreed to leave the firm and eventually admitted to taking a total of at least $14,060 on at least 22 separate occasions that he or his partners documented.

In September 2011, Davis paid the firm $50,000 as part of an agreement that severed his connection with his former partners and settled all claims between them, without admitting that he took more than $14,060. He had earlier repaid $6,150 of the misappropriated money.

According to documents obtained by the Muskegon Chronicle from the Attorney Grievance Commission, Davis attributed his behavior to financial pressures. In his defense he asserted his conduct was caused by a “temporary mental disability” – a “very high level of stress and depression he was undergoing as the result of facing serious financial difficulties.”

He was never prosecuted. But his license to practice law is in jeopardy.

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Prominent Muskegon attorney faces discipline over thousands kept from former firm

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE HOLLY FUJIE ACCUSED OF MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

Documents filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia reveal that Holly Fujie of Los Angeles allegedly engaged in predicate acts of racketeering through and by means of money laundering, mail and bank fraud, as well as conversion of funds.

A former partner of Los Angeles-based Buchalter Nemer -- who California Governor Jerry Brown appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court bench under questionable circumstances involving his cousin, former California Public Utility Commisioner Geoff Brown -- is accused in federal court of committing myriad financial crimes and acts of fraud.

The lawsuit, filed as a civil-racketeering action by Marina Del Rey-based community activist Daniel Dydzak, also names as a defendant Bet Tzedek Legal Services of Los Angeles and Eric George -- the son of the controversial former chief justice of California, Ronald George.

Both Holly Fujie and Eric George were directors of Bet Tzedek, an entity which obtained millions of dollars from the various trusts funds maintained and operated by the State Bar of California, as well as funds from the California Bar Foundation, where Holly Fujie presently serves as the vice-president.

Both the State Bar of California and the California Bar Foundation are under the direct control of the California Supreme Court.

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LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE HOLLY FUJIE ACCUSED OF MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS

Ex-Client Awarded $867K Against Lawyer Who Stole $75K and Law Firm That Referred Her to Him

A woman whose lawyer misappropriated most of the $100,000 she was supposed to get in a probate case has had her day in court and was teary-eyed after a $867,000 jury verdict Monday in Bexar County, Texas.

“I am very pleased. The jury believed in me," Isabel Sloan told the San Antonio Express-News.

The award includes $377,000 against now-disbarred attorney Eric Turton, who gave Sloan $25,000 of a $100,000 probate settlement she was supposed to get and admittedly kept the rest, as well as another attorney, Oscar C. Gonzalez, who referred her to Turton. An additional $200,000 was awarded against Gonzalez and his law firm, plus the verdict includes attorney's fees for Kolb of a little over $290,000.

Although Gonzalez contended that he had simply referred Sloan to Turton, who had rented office space from him, Sloan contended that Gonzalez should have known Turton had a history of disciplinary issues and took a $2,500 retainer. Turton testified that Gonzalez referred cases to him and got a portion of the attorney's fees. Testimony at trial also showed that some of Sloan's money went to pay law office rent, the article says.

The jury found both lawyers responsible for a $75,000 misappropriation and fraud and additionally held Gonzalez and his firm liable for false, misleading and deceptive acts and practices and gross negligence.

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Ex-Client Awarded $867K Against Lawyer Who Stole $75K and Law Firm That Referred Her to Him

Man Stole Elderly Woman's Funds, Bought Houseboat, Police Say

 A St. Charles County man faces criminal charges after O’Fallon Police said he stole funds from an elderly woman, using the money to buy himself a houseboat.

Ben Huffman, 42, of the 100 block of Lake Village Drive in northwest St. Charles County, was charged with misappropriation of funds of an elderly nursing home resident; stealing more than $25,000, a class B felony; and marijuana possession.

O’Fallon Police said that Huffman, acting with power of attorney, stole more than $25,000 from the woman’s bank account between Dec. 3, 2010 and Aug. 24, 2011. He used the money for personal expenses, including buying a houseboat to live on, police said.

Huffman also was responsible for paying for the woman’s care at the nursing home, but she had an outstanding bill of $17,533 as of Aug. 15, 2011, according to court documents. The nursing home sent him certified letters regarding the bill.

Police also said Huffman tried to grow marijuana plants in the woman’s home.

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Man Stole Elderly Woman's Funds, Bought Houseboat, Police Say