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Hendersonville Lawyer Sentenced for Wire Fraud
A Hendersonville, N.C. attorney has been sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling client funds from his law office’s trust account.
Howard Trade Elkins, 44, was sentenced to 24 months in prison on wire fraud charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Elkins, who was an attorney with a private practice in Hendersonville, engaged in a scheme to embezzle from his law office’s trust account from 2012 to 2017.
As part of his duties as the estate attorney, Elkins received funds from various sources into his law firm’s trust account, but instead of using the funds as directed, he embezzled the funds to support his own lifestyle, gamble, make payments to other victim clients, and satisfy potential debts and demands related to his legal work.
“Elkins’ clients trusted him and relied on him to carry out his duties as their attorney. Instead, Elkins used his law firm’s trust account as his personal piggy bank,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.
Elkins pleaded guilty in November 2017 to wire fraud and will be ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence upon designation of a federal facility.
The investigation was handled by the FBI, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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