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A Southern California attorney has been disbarred after he misappropriated more than $116,000 from his clients and used some of that money to fund his gambling habit.
And it gets worse.
Sergio Valdovinos Ramirez, who was disbarred this past Friday, is culpable of all 19 ethical violations he was charged with. This included claiming he of terminal lung cancer all the while allegedly using client funds to help fuel his gambling habit.
“Mr. Valdovinos Ramirez cheated his clients out of their funds, in part, to feed his gambling habit; he then showed no remorse and lied about a life-threatening illness to avoid taking responsibility for his misconduct,” said Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona. “Disbarment is entirely appropriate in this case.”
From KTLA:
In their June ruling, the court review department stated that Valdovinos Ramirez’s misappropriation of funds was “unrelenting,” saying that he would often deplete his bank accounts and use the entrusted funds for his own purposes, including gambling, as soon as he received clients’ funds.
Two specific incidents were cited by the State Bar Association, including one case in which Valdovinos Ramirez misappropriated all $73,965 in advance fees that were supposed to be for a client’s representation in a conservatorship matter.
In another incident, he was hired to represent a person filing a discrimination case against their employer; however, he never filed a case – even providing the client with a fake case number – and told them that the case had been settled for $58,000.
Afterwards, Valdovinos Ramirez wrote large checks to the client, when he knew there were no settlement fees nor money in his accounts to cover the checks.
Upon further investigation, claims of being treated by a Dr. Stephen Chang at City of Hope, one of America’s largest and most well-known cancer research and treatment organizations, were found to be all a lie. No Dr. Stephen Chang works at the treatment center.
“This misconduct was exacerbated by the additional dishonesty in which he engaged,” the ruling read in part. “Valdovinos Ramirez lied to his clients to stall the discovery of his misappropriation and failure to follow through on work he had assured clients he performed.”
“A key part of this cover-up was to issue numerous checks with insufficient funds to several clients, again breaching the fundamental rule of ethics, which is honesty,” the ruling continued.
Ramirez must pay five former clients nearly $117,000 in restitution, plus 10% interest.
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