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Thursday, December 25, 2008
Ind. Courts - More on "Accused Schererville attorney withdraws law license"
Updating this ILB entry from Dec. 18th, and this entry from Oct. 23rd headed "Attorney Crabtree charged with embezzling $1 million," Andy Grimm of the Gary Post-Tribune reports today under the heading "Attorney faces even more charges." From the story:
Federal prosecutors have added counts of mail fraud and tax evasion to the charges against a Schererville attorney who allegedly stole more than $2 million from his clients.William Crabtree II allegedly used an elaborate series of forged checks, phony receipts, and bank transfers to steal money -- and cover up his thefts -- from clients of his law firm and a title company he owned. The allegations included in a new indictment filed by federal prosecutors add detail to charges filed against Crabtree in October.
"Crabtree engaged in a scheme to defraud that involved misappropriating at least $2.2 million from his clients," the indictment states. Crabtree spent the money on "himself and others, and paid back money to another client."
Crabtree was charged in October with two counts of wire fraud and a single count of mail fraud stemming from allegedly illegal transactions involving a client who received a large sum from a relative's estate and a client involved in a real estate deal.
Crabtree allegedly took money the estate client had intended to use to pay state and federal taxes -- which led to the tax evasion charges added this week to his indictment -- and then took money from another client to cover up the theft.
The new charges also state that Crabtree in 2006 also convinced a client to invest in a bogus condominium development in Chicago, creating phony deeds and closing documents, and promising a 20-percent payoff in 2008.
When the same client asked Crabtree to handle the $1.2 million sale of a restaurant in Shelbyville, prosecutors allege the lawyer kept the money and used $785,000 to pay back the estate client, who had discovered the missing tax payments.
When the real estate client asked for the money from the restaurant sale, Crabtree initially said the bank had failed to process a wire transfer, then said he would have to get a loan to pay the client.
Crabtree eventually sent the client a check for $1.2 million, but the check was phony.
Crabtree resigned his law license earlier this month, and has requested a court-appointed attorney because he said he has no money to pay for his defense. The state Supreme Court had suspended his law license and was conducting an investigation that could have led to Crabtree's disbarment.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 25, 2008 11:53 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts