During the month of February, four Orange County attorneys were disbarred by the State Bar of California as a result of misconduct.
The state bar provided the following explanations for the disciplinary action:
Dean Robert Kitano, 64, Santa Ana: He was disbarred Feb. 19 for failing to report a fraud against him, making false representations, seeking to mislead a judge or financial officer and engaged in acts involving moral turpitude.
ING Radiology Medical Center, a company he created, entered into a 50-50 partnership with Mir Akhorli to create an MRI facility in Long Beach.
Akhorli entered into another 50-50 partnership for the same facility. The new partner eventually wanted to sell but Akhorli would not sell his share. Akhorli was also sued by an investor of another MRI facility and the Long Beach MRI facility was shut down as a result. Kitano claimed ING, not Akhorli, was the co-owner.
It was the first time the new partner heard about ING’s involvement. Kitano was found liable for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud by concealment, fraud by intentional misrepresentation and a violation of the Uniform Transfer Act. An appeals court reversed the breach of fiduciary finding.
Robert G. Scurrah Jr., 69, Tustin: He was disbarred Feb 4. and charged with not filing a declaration of compliance, required because of a prior suspension for collecting upfront fees in nine loan modification issues. The State Bar Court found that he violated a consumer protection law prohibiting advance fees for those services.
Rachelle Shalom Visconte, 45, Rancho Santa Margarita: She was disbarred Feb. 4 after two criminal convictions that included possession of a controlled substance and of drug paraphernalia, making a fictitious check, burglary, possession of a completed check with intent to defraud and identity theft.
Lawrence Allan Moy, 50, Irvine: He was disbarred Feb. 10 because he engaged in misconduct in five personal injury cases. In one, he misappropriated $33,333 in settlement funds in his client’s trust account and failed to give him an accounting of $50,000 in settlement proceeds.
In other matters, he did not maintain client settlement proceeds, misappropriated money, did not communicate with clients and commingled personal funds in a client’s trust account. He was ordered to pay $48,649 plus interest.
Two local attorneys were suspended or placed on probation in February. They were:
- William West Seegmiller (66, Newport Beach)
- Scott Bunker Hayward (57, Santa Ana)