Summary: A San Antonio lawyer has been accused of forging the signatures of multiple judges in an attempt to hide facts from a client.
An elaborate scheme concocted to hide the status of a 2009 lawsuit from a client involved forging various judges’ signatures was discovered. San Antonio lawyer Todd Prins has been accused of fabricating court documents.
Attorney Jason Davis is representing the clients, William and Karen Ozer. Davis told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Craig Gargotta during an emergency court hearing, “My clients were completely bamboozled. It’s rare to put in a pleading ‘unprecedented fraud’ and not have that perceived as some sort of hyperbole. In this case, it is unprecedented to forge federal judges’ signatures.”
The emergency hearing was held after new information surfaced from the details of Prins and his wife Paula’s personal bankruptcy liquidation case. The Ozers filed the new lawsuit alleging that Prins committed fraud and breaching fiduciary duty.
Prins allegedly manufactured signatures of Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hect, U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery, and state District Judge Solomon J. Casseb III. The lawsuit also included forged communications from former San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
The lawsuit is seeking to freeze any assets in the Prins Law Firm’s trust account that should belong to the Ozers, if any money exists. Prins was not at the hearing because he was on vacation in another country.
The 2009 case that Prins was representing the Ozers in was a lawsuit against San Antonio commercial real estate firm REOC Partners and others. Ozer was seeking $500,000 in damages for what he claimed was the real estate firms breach in fiduciary duty to him and other investors. The forged papers made the Ozers believe the case will still ongoing despite the truth that Prins received a $1.6 million settlement that he claimed was “frozen” because of court appeals. After filing for personal bankruptcy, Prins issued a promissory note for $1.6 million to the Ozers.
Gargotta noted that forging a judge’s signature is a felony, and he alleged forged multiple signatures.
Why do you think an attorney would forge signatures, knowing how serious of a crime it is to do so? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
To learn more about other bad lawyers, read:
Lawyer Sanctioned for $100,000 for Wasting Court’s Time
Lawsuit Says Teenager Forced to Have Sex with Lawyer during Job Interview
Miami Lawyer Caught Forging Judges Signatures
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