Wills & Trusts Lawyer Scammed for $4 Million

Even savvy wills and trusts lawyers can be fooled by nefarious individuals.

Take the case of respected West Palm Beach attorney Ronald S. Kochman.  He placed about $4 million of his own funds, and advised his clients to follow suit, with the KL Group, a hedge fund advisory firm.  It appears that fund advisers misspent and/or absconded with most of the funds.

The sad case of Mr. Kochman and his fellow investors is detailed in Julie Creswell, Paradise and Money Lost, NY Times, Aug. 14, 2005.  Here is how Ms. Creswell described Mr. Kochman’s response when he found out about the problems with his investment:

[A] tearful Mr. Kochman collapsed on his knees and said, “It’s gone. It’s all gone,” according to a person who witnessed the event. “The money is missing and Won has jumped ship.”

The moral of this story — invest with great caution and diversify.  Makes me think that buying CDs from federally insured financial institutions is a great way to invest!

Special thanks to Prof. Joel Dobris of UC Davis for alerting me to this situation.