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In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Konnor3/25/2005
June 11, 1998. Konnor failed to appear at that scheduled meeting and did not then file the inventory. The matter was rescheduled to July 9, 1998, and Konnor was warned that he could be removed as personal representative if he failed to appear at that hearing. Konnor finally filed the estate inventory on July 8, 1998, listing gross estate assets at $62,948.98. Konnor, however, had failed to provide all interested parties with a copy of that inventory. By letter dated November 13, 1998, the probate court advised Konnor that the estate had then been open for 14 months and that it would have to be closed within the next 4 months but a petition for an extension of time could be filed. At that time, a number of documents still remained to be filed in the estate including the final account and final judgment.
. In January 1999 the decedent's rooming house was sold. Konnor, as personal representative, received two checks dated January 15, 1999, representing the proceeds of the sale. Those checks, however, were not deposited into the estate's checking account until May 1999.
. On March 12, 1999, the probate court issued another order requiring Konnor to appear on May 27, 1999, to show cause why the final judgment had not yet been entered.
. Between July 1999 and November 1999, Konnor's brother Stewart--who was homeless and who had a history of substance abuse as well as an extensive criminal history including convictions for theft--had been allowed by Konnor's father to live in the building where Konnor's law office was located. Stewart Konnor had access to his brother's law office and stole the checkbook for the B.B. estate and then cashed six checks payable to himself (Stewart) totaling $3500. Chris Konnor had left that checkbook in an estate file on the floor next to his desk; neither the file nor the checkbook had been kept in a secure place.
. After discovering the theft, Konnor deposited $3544 he had obtained from his father into the estate's checking account in February 2000. The checks Konnor had received from his father to pay back the money his brother had stolen from the estate, contained misleading notations about the purpose for which the checks from his father were intended. Konnor did not advise the police about the thefts from the estate's account nor did he inform the heirs or the court about the misappropriations. Only after OLR began its investigation into the grievances the heirs had filed, did Konnor disclose that the thefts had occurred; that disclosure was in Konnor's final account filed on May 15, 2004.
. Based on this course of conduct, Count Three of OLR's complaint alleged that by not depositing the estate's funds into the trust account in a timely manner, Konnor had failed to keep those funds in trust, in violation of SCR 20:1.15(a).
. Similarly, Count Four alleged that by not taking any steps to lock his office or keep the estate checkbook in a secure location, Konnor had failed to safeguard the estate's funds and hold them in trust, in violation of SCR 20:1.15(a).
. Count Five alleged that because Konnor had not reported the thefts to the police or the heirs, and had provided misleading notations with respect to where the reimbursement checks had come from and for what purposes they had been received, Konnor had engaged in conduct that was deceitful and conduct that amounted to misrepresentation by omission, in violation of SCR 20:8.4(c).
COUNTS SIX, SEVEN, AND EIGHT
. In February 2000 Konnor retained a tax accountant to prepare the estate's tax returns and the decedent's personal income tax returns. In January of 2001 the accountant sent Konnor completed tax forms for
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