Woodbridge Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Clients

(Alexandria, VA) – Stephen T. Conrad, 40, a Woodbridge, Virginia lawyer, pled guilty today in United States District Court to federal fraud charges in connection with a scheme to defraud his clients. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington Field Office, made the announcement after Conrad’s guilty plea before United States District Judge Claude M. Hilton. Conrad faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of at least $250,000, and full restitution, when he is sentenced on November 14, 2008.

According to court documents, up until December 2007, Conrad primarily represented clients in personal injury cases and workers’ compensation claims. Conrad settled clients’ claims without their authority or knowledge by forging their signatures on release of liability forms, and then providing those forms to the insurance companies against whom the claims were made. In many instances, the claims he mishandled involved serious injuries his clients had sustained, including spinal injuries, facial fractures, and, in at least one case, a leg injury that required amputation. Upon receiving checks from insurance companies, Conrad forged his clients’ signatures and misappropriated the funds that belonged to his clients.

Conrad concealed from his clients that he had settled their claims by telling them that the cases were still ongoing. He used the misappropriated funds for a variety of purposes, including the payment of the mortgage on his home, personal credit card expenses, and travel. Court documents allege that the total losses as a result of the scheme exceed $3.5 million.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Belevetz is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

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