Disbarred Attorney Gets Nearly Five Years For Forging Clients' Signatures On Settlement Checks, Then Pocketing $200K+

In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:

• Disbarred attorney Scott Schieb was sentenced to nearly five years in prison Thursday and will have to pay at least $250,000 to reimburse clients for personal injury settlements he stole from them.
  
  Schieb, 55, will pay back the thefts over 10 years, said prosecuting attorney Erika Quartermaine. Schieb forged clients' signatures and took between $10,000 and $50,000 in settlement checks from each client. He was sentenced for eight counts of grand theft Thursday.
  
  Schieb stole settlements from eight clients who were all injured in car accidents from 2005 to 2008. The clients' injuries ranged from whiplash to a debilitating back injury, Quartermaine said. Schieb gave up his license to practice law in 2011 after the Florida Bar found him guilty of misappropriating more than $200,000. “This is a sad case for all of the victims, and the defendant's family,” Quartermaine said.(1)
  
  Schieb lost his home this month after US Bank won a $1.13 million foreclosure judgment against him. Shieb bought the land in 1992 and built the house two years later.
  
  Schieb borrowed the money in April 2004 against his 4,234-square-foot house in the 2900 block of Dick Wilson Drive in the Laurel Oaks neighborhood of Sarasota.

For the story, see Disbarred Sarasota attorney imprisoned for stealing from clients.

(1) The Florida Bar's Clients' Security Fund was established to reimburse clients who have suffered a loss due to misappropriation or embezzle­ment by a Florida-licensed attorney.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (now includes Canadian recovery funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.