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totaling $25,296 that he had endorsed to her to reimburse her.
Edgar deposited those checks in her account on June 17, 1997.
On August 22, 1997, Edgar wrote a check to petitioner in the
amount of $6,210. On August 27, 1997, a $6,310 American Savings
Bank cashier’s check payable to petitioner was deposited in
Edgar’s account instead of petitioner’s business account.
b. Askew Legal Fees
In 1997, a client, Mr. Askew (Askew), owed a substantial
amount of legal fees to petitioner. When Askew filed for
bankruptcy, Sieveke filed a claim in bankruptcy court for
petitioner for unpaid attorney’s fees. Sieveke collected
$14,704.67 from Askew and, on August 22, 1997, deposited those
funds in Sieveke’s client trust account.
Instead of depositing the $14,704.67 in the law firm’s
business account, on petitioner’s instructions: (a) Sieveke wrote
checks to the IRS for $10,000 and to the Franchise Tax Board for
$3,000 to pay petitioner’s personal taxes, and (b) Sieveke paid
the $1,704.67 balance to Edgar.
c. Other Legal Fees Paid to Petitioner and Not
Deposited in the Business Account
In 1998, petitioner collected fees totaling $135,421.64
($100,000 + $22,000 + $13,421.64) from former clients Donald
Arnett (Arnett), Angela Chen (Chen), and Brian Markam (Markam).
None of these amounts were deposited in petitioner’s business
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