A Las Vegas attorney has been charged with stealing $150,000 from a client, according to Las Vegas police records.
Scott Michael Cantor, 69, was booked at the
Clark County Detention Center Oct. 14 on a single felony count of theft
$100,000 or greater.
Las Vegas police wrote in an arrest warrant
for Cantor that detectives were contacted in January by a male client of
Cantor’s, requesting that police investigate the lawyer. The client,
who’s name was blacked out in the warrant, said his deceased mother’s
home had recently been sold, and that related probate proceedings were
finalized in December 2020. The funds from the sale were deposited into
Cantor’s client trust account, the client said, but Cantor never
delivered the money to the client.
When the man started questioning Cantor as
to why the money hadn’t been received, he told the client in a text
“that he needed to audit his trust account.”
“After Mr. Cantor’s audit, he told (the
client) that there was only $200 in his trust account,” police said.
“Mr. Cantor told (the client) that he would make good on the funds, but
never paid.”
Police said they obtained text conversations
between the client and Cantor in which Cantor repeatedly made excuses
for why the money hadn’t been transferred.
“Get on putting that money in my account,” the client texted Cantor.
“I’m on it today,” Cantor responded.
At one point Cantor told the man “I don’t
understand how I am short. It shouldn’t be. Either way I have to make
you whole. I’m on the line to see if I can secure any funds I’m short.”
Police said in the warrant that Cantor ultimately offered the client “mining contracts as a replacement for the money.”
Cantor, police said, at one point sent the
client a picture showing the funds had been transferred from Cantor’s
bank account, but when police went to check Cantor’s bank records, they
“showed no record of $150,000.00 being transferred.”
Cantor did not respond to requests for comment made Monday by email and phone. His attorney, Ozzie Fumo, declined to comment.
State Bar of Nevada records indicate Cantor has been a member since 1978.
Bar spokesman Phil Pattee Monday that the organization is aware of Cantor’s arrest.
“The matter is under investigation,” he
said. “It will be presented to a screening panel for the Southern Nevada
Disciplinary Board (of the Bar.)”
Records from the legal profession’s
governing organization indicate Cantor was the subject of a disciplinary
complaint resolved in 2016.
In a Nevada Supreme Court order, the bar
said a hearing panel previously found that Cantor had breached a
mentoring agreement by “failing to implement an accounting system” at
his law firm.
The panel recommended a stayed three-year
suspension of Cantor’s law license, followed by one year of probation.
Cantor was also ordered to perform an audit of a trust account at the
firm and repay any monies owed.
The nature of the complaint filed against Cantor was not detailed in the order.
“Cantor must implement and use accounting
and case management systems for the operation of his law practice,” the
Supreme Court wrote in the order.
Court records did not immediately list a future court date for Cantor.
Attorney Robert Menard appearing for a deposition in March 2018. The
deposition was taken as part of a lawsuit involving Menard's former law
partner. A transcript of the deposition is on file with the Milwaukee
County Clerk of Courts. (Photo: Milwaukee County Clerk's office, )
Well-known lawyer Robert Menard was
jailed Monday on charges of stealing at least $700,000 from his ex-law
partner, clients and his uncle, according to a 14-felony count criminal
complaint.
The 43-page complaint by
the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office lays out elaborate
schemes by Menard, 56, to steal the law firm he had operated with
longtime partner Alan Derzon, embezzle Derzon's retirement account,
pocket the proceeds of a $500,000 insurance settlement won by his
70-year old uncle and then use his uncle's money to pay off other
clients he had ripped off.
His uncle's money was
also used for personal and business expenses such as paying his
children's tuition at Boston College and Drake University, the
complaints charges.
The uncle, Philip Menard, sued
Robert Menard — a lawyer who brags he represents the "average Joe" —
last year and the case was settled for an undisclosed amount in April.
"Attorney
Robert Menard has, for many years, engaged in an extensive pattern of
theft and fraud through his law practice," Kurt Benkley, an assistant
district attorney, charged in the complaint. Benkley wrote that Menard
"routinely stole from clients in a 'rob Peter to pay Paul' pattern of
theft."
The
prosecutor explained that instead of placing settlement checks for
clients in a segregated account, he put the funds "directly into his law
firm business account, spent the proceeds for his own benefit until the
account fell below a zero balance and then many months later paid old
clients with new clients' insurance settlement funds."
The complaint charges Menard with nine counts of embezzlement, four forgery counts and one count of misconduct in public office.
The charges are the latest in a long line of trouble
for Menard, who is also facing a disbarment action filed by the Office
of Lawyer Regulation. The office, which is the policing arm of the state
Supreme Court, charged Menard with 31 counts of misconduct, including
improperly using client cash to cover office and personal expenses.
A hearing is scheduled for next month and the high court will ultimately decide the matter later.
Despite the disbarment complaint, Benkley alleged Menard's illegal activities continued.
"Bank
records show that, despite the pending OLR complaint, defendant Menard
has continued to steal client funds," the complaint states. "Defendant
Menard deposited insurance settlement checks and spent the proceeds
without paying clients."
In 2017, Derzon, his partner of 25 years, sued Menard charging
he stole the downtown law firm that specialized in worker's
compensation claims from Derzon. At the time, each man had a 50%
interest in the firm. The suit also charged that Menard had stolen
Derzon's retirement fund.
The lawsuit is pending,
though the claim that Menard took the law firm and Derzon's retirement
funds are cornerstones of the criminal complaint.
"Menard
converted virtually the entire assets of Derzon & Menard to the
benefit of Menard & Menard," the criminal complaint states,
referring to the Menard-owned firm that set up shop in the same spot as
the predecessor and kept all of the supplies and assorted assets of
Derzon & Menard.
Even the extensive collection
of sports memorabilia were kept by Menard's new firm as was the
fictional "Joe Bob," who was used to promotes the law firms as the
lawyers who represent the "average Joe." Joe Bob became Menard &
Menard's mascot.
Joe Bob, a cartoon character who had been used to advertise the Derzon
& Menard law firm, can now be found on the webpage for Menard &
Menard, albeit still wearing his Derzon & Menard baseball hat. (Photo: Screen shot)
The Journal Sentinel first reported the dispute
between the partners in 2017 and disclosed the DA was looking into the
matter last year.
The criminal complaint lays several schemes, including:
Derzon's retirement funds: The
complaint says that on Aug.15, 2013, Derzon had a retirement balance of
$269,722 when Menard told him the account would be rolled over.
Instead,
the complaint said, Derzon's retirement funds were deposited into the
firm's business account and Menard "rapidly spent Mr. Derzon's
retirement funds."
Expenditures included $22,585
to Boston College for Menard's son's tuition, $1,629 to the Milwaukee
Athletic Club, $5,000 to a woman's account at the Philippines National
Bank, a $774 payment to Time Warner Cable, $12,135 to American Express
and several withdrawals of cash and payments to Menard.
The business account had a negative $8,252 balance by Sept. 20, 2013, the complaint states.
On top of that, Kevin Demet, Derzon's lawyer, said his client has been hit with tax liens on the money he never received.
"It's
brutal," Demet said. "First he loses all of his money in the law firm,
his retirement is stolen and he's hit with a with a
half-million-dollar tax debt."
Uncle Philip Menard'scase:
The elder Menard was struck by a car while mowing his lawn in Florida.
Robert Menard represented him and collected a $500,000 settlement.
Instead
of paying his uncle two-thirds of the settlement, or $333,333, as had
been agreed to, Robert Menard continually made excuses for repeated
delays in distributing the cash. At one point, Robert Menard even argued
that he — not his uncle who was severely injured in the accident — was
entitled to the entire $500,000.
The insurance
settlement was paid to the Menard law firm on July 8, 2014. Two months
later the account had a negative $43, the criminal complaint said. "All
of Philip Menard's settlement funds were gone," the complaint states.
The
complaint said the uncle's money went to a variety of parties,
including $45,000 to Robert Menard, $29,146 for tuition at Boston
College, $15,007 for tuition at Drake University on behalf of a second
Menard child and about $20,000 to credit card companies.
In
at least five cases, the complaint says, his uncle's settlement money
was used to pay other clients after he had stolen settlements meant for
those clients.
That scheme was sometimes furthered by forging a signature, the complaint says.
In
one case, the complaint notes, Menard lied to a client, telling her
that she had won a settlement of $150,000, when he had collected
$250,000 for the client.
Menard
was arrested Monday morning by investigators from the DA's office. He
was being held in Milwaukee County Jail. Bail is expected to be set on
Tuesday.
The complaint notes that the investigation is continuing and additional charges may be forthcoming.
A Columbus lawyer whose license was suspended recently amid
allegations that he stole from an elderly client has been indicted by a
Franklin County grand jury on charges of theft and tampering with
records.
John David Moore Jr., 48, faces two counts of
theft from an elderly person and two counts of tampering with court
records in an indictment filed Wednesday.
The criminal
charges come seven months after the Ohio Supreme Court’s disciplinary
counsel filed a complaint accusing Moore of withdrawing $35,132
beginning in 2010 while overseeing the assets and nursing-home care of a
man in a guardianship case. Moore is accused of depositing the money in
his checking accounts while failing to provide a complete accounting of
the funds in Franklin County Probate Court in 2012 and 2013 after the
man died.
In April, Moore’s license to practice law was
placed under suspension after he failed to respond to the complaint,
Supreme Court records show.
The two felony theft counts
accuse Moore of stealing more than $7,500 from an elderly or disabled
person. The counts of tampering with records accuse him of falsifying,
altering or destroying the guardian’s inventory and an affidavit in
Probate Court.
Moore made headlines last year when he accused Franklin
County jurors of stealing 71 oxycodone pills while deliberating in the
case of a client who was convicted of drug possession and sentenced to
25 years in prison. Moore accused jurors of stealing the pills while
handling evidence in the jury room, and he unsuccessfully sought a new
trial for his client. An investigation failed to uncover what became of
the missing opioids.
ALBANY – A Slingerlands estate attorney who spent 37 years with one
of the largest firms in upstate New York was charged Thursday in U.S.
District Court with the theft and concealment of at least $328,000
allegedly taken from clients and his employer.
Albert Hessberg III, 63, a third-generation
attorney who has sat on a number of local boards, was fired in March
from the firm of Barclay Damon, where he worked since 1981 and handled
trusts and estate cases, federal court papers said.
The FBI and federal prosecutors in Albany are still investigating
Hessberg's alleged thefts that could be in the range of $1 million to $3
million, according to people with knowledge of the case.
Hessberg is charged with mail and wire fraud.
Prosecutors for U.S. Attorney Grant Jaquith say Hessberg stole money
from clients and diverted payments to his firm for legal services to
himself.
An FBI agent's affidavit said one of
Hessberg's former clients, a man identified only as "A.R.," died in 2007
leaving a probate estate of $555,000. The agent said Hessberg was the
executor of the estate, the assets of which were to be left in a trust
for the man's widow, known as "C.R.," and, after her death, trusts for their three children and grandchildren.
The widow died in 2010, leaving an estate of
$314,000. The FBI agent wrote that nothing showed Hessberg ever set up
trusts for the children or grandchildren. When one of the children asked
about the inheritance, Hessberg explained in emails, voicemails and
phone calls that distributing the assets was complicated and he needed
more time, the affidavit said.
Hessberg told the person in emails last June
that he had hired an accountant to ensure proper distribution of assets,
then transferred $10,500 to the late couple's children "in an effort to
further conceal and delay the discovery of his thefts," the agent
wrote.
Between Jan. 1, 2013 and May 11, 2015,
Hessberg allegedly deposited $328,507 from other Barclay clients into
the account for "A.R." He put the money into a bank account under his
own name and the name of a family member, then second account under
those names, then spent most of the money to "cover his personal and
lifestyle expenses," the affidavit said.
Hessberg faces up to 20 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine if convicted on the charges, but could face lesser time
depending on sentencing guidelines.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian Hummel
allowed Hessberg to be free on his own recognizance. The defendant's
lawyer, E. Stewart Jones of Troy, said the case is "a long way from
being over."
M. Cornelia Cahill, deputy managing partner
at Barclay Damon, did not utter Hessberg's name in a statement to the
Times Union about the charges.
"When this matter came to light, Barclay
Damon immediately terminated the attorney involved and notified the U.S.
attorney's office," Cahill stated. "The firm will not comment further
while the investigation is pending."
Hessberg's family was once part of the firm
of Poskanzer, Hessberg, Blumberg and Dolin in Albany, which merged in
1985 with the Syracuse-based firm of Hiscock and Barclay, which later
became Barclay Damon.
The defendant's father, Albert Hessberg II,
was a president of the Albany County Bar Association and a referee with
the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. When he died at 78 in 1995, an
obituary in the Times Union identified him as a "longtime local
attorney and a star running back for Yale in the 1930s."
The defendant's sister, Kim Hessberg Taylor,
is the wife of musician James Taylor. In January, the couple donated
$10,000 to Albany Medical Center Hospital for the Pediatric Emergency
Department, scheduled to open this summer.
RALEIGH - Wake County sheriff’s deputies have accused a lawyer of swiping a wallet filled with cash after it was mistakenly dropped at the security entrance of the old Wake County Courthouse.
Investigators apparently did not have to look very far to determine what happened after the alleged victim reported that his wallet was missing Monday. Security guards who work at the courthouse entrance say the alleged theft was caught on cameras installed throughout the building.
Lawyer Steven Patrick MacGilvray, 29, has been charged with one felony count of larceny, according to an arrest warrant filed at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office.
Deputies think MacGilvray, of 820 Handsworth Lane in Raleigh, “feloniously did steal, take and carry away $1,600 in cash, the personal property of Robert McKenley Jeffreys,” according to the arrest warrant.
MacGilvray was taken into custody at the courthouse by Wake Deputy D.A. Taylor shortly after the theft was reported, according to records at the City County Bureau of Identification.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment Tuesday, but security guards working at the Salisbury Street entrance of the courthouse said Jeffreys dropped his wallet while visiting the courthouse with his daughter to pay a research fee.
The security officers said MacGilvray was standing behind Jeffreys when he dropped his wallet at the security checkpoint. Instead of telling Jeffreys he dropped the wallet, MacGilvray reportedly picked it up and stuck it in his pocket.
The security guards said cameras installed in an elevator captured MacGilvray later opening the wallet and, after noting that it was full of cash, putting it back into his pocket.
The security guards think MacGilvray went into a nearby restroom, where he then emptied the cash from the wallet and put the currency into his pocket.
MacGilvray then allegedly went to the Fayetteville Street entrance of the courthouse and gave the empty wallet to a sheriff’s deputy, under the guise of being a good Samaritan returning a lost item, the security guards reported.
The guards said Jeffreys was able to tell sheriff’s deputies the exact amount of cash that was in the wallet and the precise number of denominations.
MacGilvray was licensed to practice law in North Carolina on Aug. 28, 2013, according to the North Carolina State Bar. He was an associate attorney at Coolidge Law Firm in Raleigh, which handles DWI arrests, criminal charges and traffic offenses.
By Tuesday afternoon, MacGilvray’s page had been taken down but his photo was still on the homepage for the firm. Coolidge officials could not be reached for comment.
MacGilvray’s resume on his LinkedIn page stated that he is a 2013 Graduate of Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Va. Prior to law school, he received his bachelor’s in communication at East Carolina University. He is a graduate of J.H. Rose High School in Greenville.
A post on his LinkedIn page states: “Steven’s experience as a former prosecutor has greatly enhanced his ability to assist clients in navigating through the legal process, particularly in resolving a wide variety of misdemeanor and felony criminal cases and traffic-related matters. Additionally, he is dedicated to providing stellar legal services to clients facing a wide array of civil disputes and contract and business law issues.
“Steven is admitted to practice in all North Carolina State Courts as well as the Federal District Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina and United States Immigration Courts.”
The accused attorney’s resume also states that he worked as chief legal counsel with the Raleigh Jaycees and as a volunteer lawyer and mentor with Wake County’s Teen Court.
MacGilvray spent a night in jail and was released Tuesday just after 1:45 p.m., when he posted a $3,000 bond, a Wake sheriff’s spokesman reported.
