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| Carla Burton Gaines faces federal fraud & misuse of client funds charges. |
ATLANTA—An attorney who allegedly
stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in county escrow funds that were
to go to a College Park business has been indicted by a federal grand
jury on charges of fraud and misuse of client funds.
Carla Burton Gaines, 60, of Mableton, was disbarred by the Georgia Supreme Court on Nov. 18.
According to a press release from U.S. Attorney for the Northern
District of Georgia Byung J. "BJay" Pak, Gaines "allegedly stole
$337,400 that she had received from the Clayton County government to
hold in escrow for payment" to Kelete, Inc. of College Park.
"After
the theft," which according to the indictment took place from August
2014 through March 2016, "Gaines allegedly lied to Clayton County and
Kelete to convince them that she still had the money and payment was on
the way."
The money came from a right-of-way sale
agreement between Kelete, Inc., a convenience store, and Clayton County.
The county paid Kelete $712,400, which Gaines was to have held in
escrow. The deal closed in November 2015 and Gaines paid Kelete, Inc.
$375,000. The rest was to remain in escrow until the company "removed
certain trade fixtures and improvements on the property."
Kelete, Inc. finished the work in March 2016 but, despite asking repeatedly for the rest of its money, never got it.
"For
example, Gaines falsely claimed that the wire was 'pending,' that the
wire was 'stuck,' that she was 'awaiting a call from the bank,' that she
had 'straightened out the issue,' and that the 'wire should be
processed Monday,'" Pak's office said. "Those representations were
false." What's more, the government alleges, "Gaines had far less...in
her bank accounts at the time she made those representations."
Kelete, Inc. then sued Gaines, who
allegedly lied under oath in two depositions on March 2017 and June
2018, claiming that she had accidentally paid the money to another
client, a pastor, who she said repeatedly promised to pay her back.
"Attorneys
who allegedly lie and steal abuse the trust owed to their clients and
violate the law," Pak said. "The indictment alleges that Gaines stole
client money that should have been held in escrow, and then lied about
the theft in an attempt to lull her victims into a false sense of
security."
FBI Special Agent in Charge of Atlanta
Chris Hacker added, "It is very disheartening when a lawyer, sworn to
uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the
jurisdiction they are licensed in, violates that oath."
According to her bio on the Gaines and Associates website,
"Gaines is an attorney with over 23 years of experience in her field of
law. She was a founding partner of Miller & Gaines, P.C., an
Atlanta real estate closing firm, for over 15 years. She received her
Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee
at Chattanooga and her Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of
Tennessee School Of Law. Since 2010, Mrs. Gaines and her team has
successfully negotiated over 100 loan modifications, principal
reductions, settlements, and short sales for clients in need,
maintaining a 95% success rate. Mrs. Gaines sees this firm as a ministry
allowing her to use her legal skills to help God’s people suffering in
today’s tough economy."
Gaines
is presumed to be innocent unless the government proves its case beyond a
reasonable doubt. The News attempted to reach Gaines but did not hear
back before press time.
Full Article & Source:
Pak: Disbarred attorney arraigned on federal fraud, theft charges in $337K College Park escrow case
