A former Marietta attorney tasked with assisting clients with personal injury suits instead allegedly stole their identities to fraudulently obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Chalmer “Chuck” Detling of Marietta-based Detling Law Group was arraigned Friday on seven counts of wire fraud and eight counts of aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
Detling stands accused of fraudulently using the identities of 36 former clients without their knowledge to apply for litigation advances.
Those advances are offered by financing companies to cover non-litigation related expenses, such as living and medical expenses, for plaintiffs with a pending personal injury or worker’s compensation lawsuit, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Typically, a plaintiff applies for litigation advance financing by submitting a signed financing agreement that includes, among other things, the amount of money being advanced to the plaintiff and a repayment schedule. They typically range from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said Detling allegedly used clients’ personal information, including Social Security numbers, to apply for 50 such advances from October 2014 through April 2016.
On Oct. 31, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia accepted Detling’s petition for voluntary surrender of his license. He is no longer licensed to practice law in Georgia, according to the DOJ.
Prosecutors said Detling tried to cover these actions up by providing fake emails and phone numbers for the clients whose names he used. Detling allegedly picked up checks from the lending agencies and deposited them into an account belonging to his law firm, or at other times had the money wired directly to the law firm’s account.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the State Bar of Georgia.
“Lawyers are supposed to assist their clients, not use their identities to commit fraud.” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “Detling allegedly violated his ethical and fiduciary duties by using his clients’ personal information to apply for litigation advances in their names. He then kept the money for himself.”
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I would expect nothing less from an Attorney.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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