Florida Attorneys Disciplined for Fraud

Michael Allen Bryant, 5300 N.W. 33rd Ave., Suite 217, Fort Lauderdale, was suspended by the Florida Supreme Court for 18 months, effective 30 days from a November 15 court order and ordered to pay restitution of $6,120.92. Bryant, admitted to practice in 1997, committed multiple ethical violations in acting as a closing agent for transactions involving the sale of a client’s home by failing to disburse money in accordance with the closing statement, by failing to apply funds entrusted to him for the purposes for which they were entrusted and by failing to promptly give the client the money he owed her. He also failed to see that a second mortgage was duly recorded and participated as the settlement agent in what amounted to a fraud on his client.

William Garcia, 201 Alhambra Circle, Suite 500, Coral Gables, was permanently disbarred effective 30 days from a November 29 court order. In September 2007, Garcia, who had been admitted to practice in 1990, pleaded guilty to 13 felonies including grand theft, money laundering, obtaining a mortgage by false representation and false reporting by bank officers with the intent to defraud. He received a sentence of 10 years reporting probation. Multiple counts were not prosecuted in a plea arrangement that included Garcia agreeing to both give up his law license in Florida and not to seek one in any state and to be liable for $500,000 in criminal investigation costs.

Alberto Jose Xiques, 1825 Ponce De Leon Blvd., No. 432, Coral Gables, suspended for three years effective immediately, pursuant to a November 1 court order. Xiques, who had been admitted to practice in 1992, wrote a check from his operating fund for $55,136.39 to pay for the mortgage documents and intangible tax on a mortgage and security agreement in the sale of a Miami, Florida property. The check, which was not honored twice for insufficient funds, should have come from Xiques’ trust account. Additionally, on the same day, he wrote a check for $8,112.50 on his operating account to the clerk of the circuit court for state tax/stamps on the deed for the transaction. The tax on the sale of the property should have been $81,000. Civil complaints later dismissed by Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust Co. indicated Xiques did not have sufficient funds in trust accounts to cover obligations in one case and did not timely pay a mortgage and record it in another.

Court orders are not final until time expires to file a rehearing motion and, if filed, determined. The filing of such a motion does not alter the effective date of the discipline.

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source: mortgagefraudblog.com