Lawyer steals $1.75M from client’s trust, gambles it away at Hard Rock casino, suit says
A Florida attorney told his client’s children that he stole about $1.75 million from their father’s trust fund and gambled away the money at a Hard Rock Casino, according to a recent lawsuit.
The confession was made at a Pennsylvania coffee shop, where Jason Penrod asked to meet with Sherry Prevoznik and Charles Anderson and handed them a letter in which he explained he “completely exhausted” their father’s trust fund, a complaint filed Aug. 21 in Polk County says.
Penrod is accused of admitting that, beginning in October 2023, he moved the funds from David D. Anderson’s trust account to his own account and wired the money to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa over a span of three months, the complaint says.
A disciplinary proceeding is pending against Penrod, according to the Florida Bar.
On Sept. 5, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced Penrod was arrested in Marion County on a warrant out of Polk County. He is charged with grand theft over $100,000, the office said.
In July, Penrod’s law firm, Family Elder Law, shut down its three central Florida offices, The Ledger newspaper reported.
After the closures, Penrod offered to surrender his license to practice law in a petition for a disciplinary revocation filed with the Florida Supreme Court on Aug. 8. In the petition, he requested to be able to apply for readmission to the Florida Bar.
On Sept. 3, Penrod filed a nearly identical, second petition to the state Supreme Court — volunteering to give up his law license without the ability to apply for readmission.
Both petitions say Penrod’s “former associate and an attorney representing the beneficiaries of a living trust reported that (Penrod) has misappropriated funds from the living trust” and that Penrod “also self-reported that he misappropriated funds from two trusts in which he was the trustee.”
Prevoznik and Charles Anderson, who both live in Pennsylvania, were the only beneficiaries of their father’s trust, their lawsuit says.
They are suing Penrod, accusing him of wrongly converting the money that belonged to them for his own use, civil theft, breach of trust and to remove him as a trustee.
Attorney Richard Adam Greenberg is listed as Penrod’s legal counsel in the petitions. Greenberg and Penrod declined McClatchy News’ request for comment on Sept. 5.
Prevoznik and Anderson are asking the court to award them $5,250,000 in damages, “threefold the actual damages sustained” by them, according to the complaint.
They’re represented by attorney Brice Zoecklein of Zoecklein Law P.A.
Zoecklein told McClatchy News on Sept. 5 that Penrod’s “actions in misappropriating funds from the trust account represent a serious breach of trust and fiduciary duty.”
“The arrest of Mr. Penrod is an important step toward accountability,” Zoecklein said. “This kind of conduct erodes trust in our legal and financial systems, and it’s reassuring to see that the justice system is taking these allegations seriously.“
“We remain committed to pursuing justice on behalf of the beneficiaries and ensuring that they receive the restitution they deserve,” Zoecklein added.
When Prevoznik and Anderson’s father, who lived in Lake Wales, Florida, died in October 2021, Penrod became “the designated successor trustee,” the complaint says.
According to the complaint, Penrod admitted that the $1,750,000 of their father’s trust funds “belonged” to Prevoznik and Charles Anderson.
In Penrod’s petitions to the Florida Supreme Court, it says he “agrees to reimburse” the Clients’ Security Fund “for any and all funds CSF has paid or may pay out for claims resulting from (Penrod’s) misconduct.”
The Clients’ Security Fund was created by the Florida Bar to compensate people for any financial losses caused by an attorney.
The petitions also say Penrod has agreed to get rid of anything that indicates he is an attorney, including social media, telephone listings, stationery, checks, business cards, and office signs.
“This case serves as a reminder that trust accounts, meant to protect assets, should be safeguarded with the utmost integrity, and any violation of that trust will not be tolerated,” Zoecklein said.
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Lawyer steals $1.75M from client’s trust, gambles it away at Hard Rock casino, suit says."
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