Monday, July 13, 2009

Theft From Client Trust Fund

A disbarred lawyer admitted that he stole more than $45,000 from a client's trust account.

Russell Cheek made the admission before Superior Court Francis R. Hodgson.

In pleading guilty to one count of theft, Cheek admitted he stole $45,600 from Ralph W. Hulmin, a client for whom he was handling an estate.

Cheek said he made a series of withdrawals from the client's trust account between Dec. 10, 2004, and Feb. 2, 2007, and used the money for his own purposes.

The victim was reimbursed from the state bar association's client-security fund, and Cheek has since made full restitution to the bar association.

Full Article and Source:
Disbarred Lakewood lawyer admits theft from trust account

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder what Russell Cheek was disbarred for. Sticky fingers???

fed up said...

One more lawyer gone bad - how many more to go?

Russell Cheek has a criminal mind; he and all other financial predators must be branded with the Scarlet Letter: I AM A CROOK! warning society of who they are and what they are capable of OR pile these people on a one way ticket shipping route, leaving them on an island and let nature take it's course.

I am totally disgusted, fed up to my eyeballs with crooks. They are everywhere and their numbers are growing.

Anonymous said...

Russell Cheek is just one more lawyer in line for a trip to the big house.

Some of this could be averted if the State Bar Associations would pay attention to grievances filed by clients.

How many were filed on Russell Cheek???

AntiShyster said...

It's really time for the Barfia to stop covering up for crooked lawyers just because they think it's bad for their image.

Their image is at the lowest point in my lifetime right now. And I know they will be getting hungrier in these hard times and will be stealing more.

So I hope the Barfia wakes up and begins to do the right thing.

Anonymous said...

I love the word "disbarred."