Disbarred Attorney May Have Appropriated $6 Million

Before her death at age 94, Eleanor “Dorothy” Thomas of Tempe may have made a huge mistake when she hired probate attorney Rodney M. Matheson to handle her estate.  About $1.2 million of her estate that was supposed to go to a University of Arizona cancer research fund never made it.

Last year, Matheson, 69, was disbarred and then arrested.  He is accused of misappropriating as much as $6 million.  He is also accused of orchestrating an elaborate shell game by taking money from estates to satisfy a court order to pay $800,000 to the Mayo Clinic.  A friend of Thomas said she recommended Matheson to all of her friends in her retirement community, telling them how thrilled she was with Matheson that he didn’t even charge her. 

See Jim Walsh, Disbarred Attorney Accused of Stealing from Probate Clients, AZ Central, Apr. 29, 2014.

Special thanks to John R. Becker, Esq. (Becker & House) for bringing this article to my attention.