Summary: A Connecticut-area attorney had his license suspended for four years after being convicted of bank fraud, the second conviction of his career.
Wethersfield attorney Mark A. Pagani had his law license suspended for four years after being convicted of bank fraud by a New York court. This is the second time in his legal career that his license has been suspended.
Pagani of the firm Bascetta, Pagani, Kearns & Small was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for his role in defrauding financial institutions. Officials claim that Pagani has conspired with others for nearly three years to obtain over $100 million from two banks for commercial loans. They did this by submitting false and fraudulent loan applications. His conspirators had inflated property values on real estate they were purchasing. This enabled the bottom cost of the properties to be raised and the gain from the sale to be lowered, resulting in an underpayment of taxes.
He was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. He was given a sentence of time served, five years supervised release for one count and three years for the other count concurrently, 300 hours of community service over the five-year period of supervised release, and a $100,000 fine.
Pagani’s first suspension was for the conviction of the offense of misprision or concealing knowledge of a felony 16 years ago. He was professionally sanctioned with a four month suspension from practicing law. Pagani had admitted to helping to hide $30,000 from the creditors of a bankrupt realtor company, a violation of federal law.
Hartford Superior Court Judge Antonio Robaina explained the four year suspension, “Pagani has paid the fine as imposed in his sentence. The court further considers that Mr. Pagani has been an attorney for approximately 30 years, and notes the effect that discipline will have upon him at this age and at this stage of his career.” Pagani is 56 years old.
Is a four year suspension for a second offense lenient or harsh? Explain your thoughts in the comments below.
To learn more about bad attorneys, read these articles:
- Prominent Chinese Lawyer Convicted of Subversion
- Queens Lawyer Convicted of Paying Two Teens for Oral Sex
- California Lawyer Has Over 1,100 Bar Complaints
Photo: flickr.com