Well-Known Fla. Lawyer Charged with Skimming from Court-Appointed Accounts
Updated: A well-known South Florida lawyer with an “outsized personality” and “showy lifestyle” was charged Tuesday with wire fraud.
Lewis Freeman, who is a lawyer and forensic accountant, is accused of fraud for allegedly skimming as much as $3.6 million from accounts he controlled under court appointments, the Daily Business Review reports.
Freeman is alleged to have defrauded up to 250 clients over 10 years. Two employees at the firm, Lewis B. Freeman & Partners, are alleged to have helped the lawyer misappropriate $6 million, the Daily Business review reports. The publication posted video of the U.S. attorney’s press conference on the charges.
Interim U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman said at the press conference that Freeman used money from unrelated accounts “to repay shortfalls in the fiduciary accounts by moving funds in a Ponzi-like fashion from the unrelated fiduciary accounts.”
In October, Freeman’s office was raided by the FBI and, soon after, his practice was placed in receivership while federal investigators attempted to trace the missing money.
The Daily Business Review, which describes the lawyer as having an “outsized personality” and maintaining a “showy lifestyle” in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood, notes that Freeman was long a favorite for judges when they were looking to name receivers and trustees. The paper reports that in the criminal information filed Tuesday, Freeman is accused of illegally cashing 162 checks totaling more than $2.6 million since 2000.
Last updated at 3:45 p.m. to add details from the prosecutor’s press conference.
