Oklahoman Must Pay Back $525K for Embezzling Clients’ Insurance Money
A former Norman, Okla., attorney has been ordered to pay more than $525,000 in restitution to former clients and the federal government for fraud.
The Norman Transcript reports Dane Thomas Wilson pleaded guilty in February 2016 to using wire fraud in order to embezzle his clients’ insurance payments. He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison in December.
Prosecutors say Wilson would deposit money he received in a client trust account and then write checks to himself. He was also accused of making cash withdrawals or transferring money in amounts that exceeded the fees he was supposed to receive as his clients’ attorney.
Wilson said some clients received less than or none of the money they were owed.
Nearly $330,000 of the restitution amount will go to the Oklahoma Bar Association, which used its Client Security Fund to pay that amount to Wilson’s victims for the past five years.
About $140,000 of the restitution will go to 19 former clients, and the rest will go to the IRS.
Ruby Frame of Norman was awarded more than $80,000 after Wilson reportedly defrauded her of $125,000 she was supposed to receive following a car crash.