Former Lawyer Gets Probation in $1.2M Trust Fund ‘Situational Occurrence’

A former Florida lawyer has been sentenced to 15 years of probation and an unspecified period of house arrest after pleading guilty to an organized scheme to defraud more than $50,000.

Richard Bagdasarian, 54, of Boca Raton, has admitted stealing nearly $1.2 million from a client trust account, and apparently attributed the theft to being a poor business manager. However, he self-reported what his lawyer describes as a "situational occurrence" to state bar authorities before any client complained, recounts the Palm Beach Post.

Bagdasarian is also required to make restitution to his victims. He has already repaid more than $217,000, according to his lawyer, Jeff Brown, who proposed that his client give seminars to other attorneys about proper trust fund management.

Bagdasarian was disbarred by consent in 2007.