Attorney Mervyn Hillard Wolf Accused By Prosecutors In L.A. By Associated Press - August 3, 2006LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Prosecutors accused an attorney of swindling $300,000 from clients, most of them with disabilities.
Mervyn Hillard Wolf, 67, of Encino, was arrested Tuesday and charged with six counts of grand theft, prosecutors said.
He was also charged with bouncing a check that was supposed to pay rent for a breast cancer patient, which led to her eviction.
Prosecutors allege that Wolf deposited settlement checks from clients he represented in personal injury, workers' compensation and wrongful-termination lawsuits into trust accounts, then embezzled cash from those accounts.
Wolf has a history of disciplinary problems with the State Bar, officials said.
The bar issued Wolf a yearlong stayed suspension in 1995 for mishandling the funds of three clients. In 1998, Wolf was suspended from practice for 45 days when he failed to promptly pay $2,000 he owed a client.
The attorney was being held on $298,000 bail Tuesday. He faces up to nine years in prison if convicted. |