Tuesday, November 8, 2011

San Diego D.A. finally charges attorney Patricia Gregory for stealing from clients

Lawyer charged with fraud after Watchdog report
Prosecutors allege she took more than $100,000 from 3 clients
By Jeff McDonald
SDUT
September 29, 2011

Carlsbad attorney Patricia Gregory was charged Thursday with 11 felonies for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from clients and practicing law without a license.

The charges came less than two weeks after The Watchdog included Gregory as the leading example in a report about lawyers whose cases at the State Bar Court did not result in them being prosecuted criminally.

According to the six-page complaint, Gregory stole more than $100,000 from three clients in 2007 and 2008. She also wrongly practiced law or advertised legal services earlier this year, the complaint says.

Gregory was charged with five counts of fraud, five counts of grand theft and one count of unauthorized practice of law. She faces up to four years in state prison on each count, and a $10,000 fine. She was ordered to appear in court Oct. 18.

Gregory was recommended for disbarment in March after the State Bar Court concluded she improperly withdrew more than $112,000 from a client trust fund. Her license is invalid during an appeal of the recommendation.

She told The Watchdog that there are inaccuracies in the criminal complaint, that she was entitled to every dollar she withdrew as legal fees, and that the alleged victims received more legal services than they paid for.

“You cannot ‘steal’ something in which you have an interest,” Gregory said by email.

Former client Denise Doll, one of the three victims identified in the complaint, said she was pleased to learn of the charges but said it should never have taken so long to file a criminal case.

“This woman has damaged me greatly,” Doll said. “It’s been over two years.”

Luwain Ng is another of the alleged victims. According to a civil suit she and Doll filed, Gregory stole the proceeds of the family home that was sold when Ng and her husband divorced.

“I plan on attending every single hearing,” Ng said. “I want my money back. I’ve been waiting since 2008. I want justice served.”

Ng said she would rather have seen Gregory arrested and jailed instead of being issued a court date. She said she is afraid her former lawyer will flee prosecution.

“What then?” Ng asked.

According to Gregory’s website, she used to work for the District Attorney’s Office in child support enforcement. The office declined to discuss its prosecution strategy but said Gregory was treated like any other defendant.

“Attorneys are treated no differently than any other defendant,” said Tanya Sierra, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. “In terms of her case, we can’t comment because it is open.”

Gregory’s was one of four cases in a report by The Watchdog earlier this month about lawyers whose misdeeds are adjudicated by the State Bar Court but not prosecuted criminally. The District Attorney’s Office said many factors come into play, including different standards of proof in bar court and criminal court.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Turn your efforts on David Schulman. He is a lying thief. He poses as counsel for minor's but takes advantage of parents who aren't familiar with the law ( which is everyone). He files fraudulent reports to the the court pertaining to custody and fails to represent his clients who are children. Band together and have this predator of families disbarred. Report your stories to the District Attorney and the U.S. Justic Department with any supporting documents and ask for an investigation. Together we can have these bullies out of our court system.

Anonymous said...

Parents who are divorcing, many of these attorneys are working together to prolong the case which serves to increse billing hours to line ythe attorneys pockets with your hard earned $$$$ money. These attorneys prey on your emotions and often give misleading or incorrect law pertaining to your case because they know you would not know the difference. It doesn't feel right and in many instances either party knows something is wrong but the problem is both sides are likely dealing with corrupt attorneys. Let's not forget the threats of these attorneys to abandon your case after you have given them thousand of dollars. Not all attorneys are corrupt but it shpuldn;t be nearly impossible to find a San Diego attorney who both knows what they are doing and then follows through in an efficient manner. Rally behing Tadros. He seems to be an effective leader. You can definitely rally together and write your legislature. WRITE WRITE WRITE YOUR LEGISLATURE, provide judges names, attorney names, and how your civil rights were violated.

Anonymous said...

Probate is another area where corruption occurs in San Diego County. If you have any doubts read about Constance Larsen and Rusty Gran in the prorape case at:

http://learningboosters.blogspot.com/2012/05/judge-richard-cline-opposes-putting.html

and
rolemodellawyers.blogspot.com/.../vista-students-get-taste-of-justice....

and
http://www.therobingroom.com/california/Judge.aspx?id=3311

Anonymous said...

The North County FBI has been taking reports about how the probate court, private fiduciaries and their attorneys have been acting in collusion to milk the money from estates. The beneficiaries never even see what inheritance they were suppose to receive. If enough persons who have been affected follow through and make a report, the federal prosecutor may bring RICO charges against them. If this has happened to you, call 760-929-0811or 858-320-1800. These are the phone numbers for the FBI. Tell them you would like to make a report regarding RICO violations by the Probate court and/or private fiduciaries and their attorneys.

Lets clean up one more area of San Diego corruption!

Anonymous said...

The FBI is finally listening to the public's out cry. Larsen, Grant, Brito, Gillaspey, Shvil, Cahill, Black, McGhee, Black, the county assessors office, their clerks, the entire operation is being looked at. This will be one of the biggest RICO cases to date. If anyone has further information or has been a victim, CALL the FBI!!!!