A $1 million misdemeanor one of the reasons Miami, Palm Beach attorneys got disciplined
Money that disappeared from escrow accounts — a million here, almost a million there — and ignoring Florida Bar inquiries are among the reasons five South Florida attorneys made the monthly list of attorneys disciplined by the state Supreme Court.
In alphabetical order:
Suzanne DeWitt, Miami
Belgian rich guy Marc Van Moerbeke wanted to get into buying Coral Gables area residential real estate. His lover, tax attorney Suzanne DeWitt (admitted to the Florida Bar in 1999), ordered third parties to create an LLC for each purchase, and Van Moerbeke would own the properties through the LLCs.
But who owned the properties through the LLCs would become a point of disagreement between Van Moerbeke and DeWitt that ended in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman’s court. Hanzman ruled against DeWitt.
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“Rather than view the dispute between the parties as arising in the dissolution of their domestic partnership, the trial court found that [DeWitt] implemented a scheme to obtain 17 Miami properties funded and owned by Mr. Van Moerbeke,” DeWitt’s guilty plea for consent judgment in the professional discipline case said.
The plea admitted “in her business dealings with Mr. (Marc) Van Moerbeke regarding the 17 Miami properties, as an attorney, she should have done better. (DeWitt) accepts full personal responsibility for her wrongful conduct and knows that the fact that some of her misconduct was allegedly at Mr. Van Moerbeke’s request is not a defense.”
“The trial court also determined that [DeWitt] manipulated corporate structures and provided false information to maintain control over these properties,” the 2020 consent judgment said. “As a result of [DeWitt’s] breach of fiduciary duty, she was able to secure funds from the LLCs which she later spent on legal fees and personal expenses. The trial court ordered [DeWitt] to disgorge these funds immediately.”
Her two-year suspension began Saturday, Jan. 11
Ryan Layton, Lake Worth Beach
Lake Worth Beach’s Ryan Layton (admitted to the Bar in 2002) was suspended a year ago for 17 days after he didn’t answer Florida Bar inquiries stemming from various complaints.
Layton eventually caught up on answering the Bar’s questions and cooperated fully in the discipline process. Layton’s guilty plea for consent judgment lists seven discipline cases, six of which involved inadequate diligence on Layton’s part.
▪ Barbara Benoit, an estate’s personal representative, had been a Layton client. She eventually dumped Layton and filed a motion to compel Layton to turn over whatever estate assets he still had. In a default judgment, the court ordered Layton’s law firm, Modern Estate Planning, to turn over $21,394 and stated he “failed to represent the estate promptly and efficiently and demonstrated a lack of skill in some aspects of the representation.”
▪ A former client wanted Layton to reopen an estate and signed the petition to do so. It took 10 months for Modern Estate Planning to let the former client know — by letter — the file was being closed because “the proper place to probate the action was not Florida, but the state of residence” of the deceased person.
▪ As the lawyer for the plaintiff in an eviction, Layton signed a stipulation for settlement. The client said Layton didn’t “obtain his informed consent” before entering into the stipulation for settlement. Layton refunded $3,000 to the client.
▪ After Layton was the attorney for guardians in two guardianship cases, a Palm Beach County Office of the Inspector General audit showed Layton didn’t comply with all court orders. Also, Layton didn’t get approval for $2,825 in attorney’s fees, “$1,000 of which was paid from the ward’s guardianship account and the remaining amount was paid from the removed guardian’s personal bank account.” Layton gave $1,000 back to the attorney for the guardian.
▪ Laura Raupp, a personal representative of her mother’s estate, hired Layton and wanted to be reimbursed for money she had spent. Layton didn’t make this request of the court and took too long to answer when Raupp asked what was happening with the probate case. Eventually, Layton filed for Raupp’s reimbursement, and, eventually, the court approved it, but Layton made the whole process move at a much too stately pace.
▪ As the attorney in a Palm Beach County case, Layton failed to show up at three dispositions and a discovery violation, no-shows that earned monetary sanctions against Layton’s client by the court. Layton withdrew as counsel on March 3.
▪ Layton got $1,000 from Darla Clarke to handle her mother’s estate in September 2021. Layton filed the petition for administration in February 2022. His guilty plea admits he didn’t “reasonably progress the probate case and to keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the probate case.” Layton refunded the $1,000 last March.
Between his father and colleague reducing his workload, family health issues and Modern Estate Planning having only a single paralegal, Layton said he got overwhelmed by the business.
Owing mostly to the lack of diligence, Layton got a one-year suspension that began Dec. 27.
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Jean Gerard Legagneur Jr., Miami Beach
Jean Gereard Legagneur (admitted to the Bar in 2001), who runs GL Esquire Consulting out of a Miami Beach apartment, pleaded guilty to false financial statement in New York. According to Lagagneur’s affidavits, he committed the rare million-dollar misdemeanor three times, costing people $1,037,448.
Lagagneur’s first affidavit said Jordan Rhodes’ M&J Film Productions searched for funding for the movie “McCabe and Little Jessie” and met Carlos Keyes (aka Carlos Fernandez). Keyes made Rhodes think he controlled enough money to solve Rhodes’ money problem.
Keys told Rhodes to wire “his commitment deposit of $277,448” into the escrow account Legagneur managed.
On March 31, 2016, Legagneur sent Rhodes a “proof of funds” letter that the escrow account had $1,387,240 with William Summers ISM Group. That same day, Rhodes sent the $277,448 into that escrow account.
“That letter was inaccurate, and the escrow account did not contain that amount of funds,” Legagneur’s affidavit admitted. “After the commitment deposit was made, I disbursed the money to myself, my co-defendants and other individuals and entities that were not related to Jordan Rhodes, M&J Film Production LLC or “McCabe and Little Jessie.” No financing was provided to the above creditors; nor has their deposit been returned.”
Rhodes testified in 2024 before the referee in Legagneur’s case, Judge Daniel Kanner.
“Ultimately the film production project was not funded, and Mr. Rhodes found himself out of pocket since a full production staff had been hired,” Kanner wrote in his referee’s report. “After 58 years in the film industry, this incident caused his reputation to suffer,” Kanner said. “He has not been able to make a feature film since.”
Also, Rhodes said, Legagneur hasn’t satisfied the judgment in the Miami-Dade civil suit Rhodes filed against him.
Another movie project, “The Role Model,” had an investor, Keith G. Myers, but needed more money. The search party for that cash included Brian Montes. Another Lagagneur affidavit said Keyes “made representations” to Brian Montes that Keyes was “in charge of a large film fund capable of providing immediate funding to “The Role Model.””
This time, Keyes demanded a “commitment deposit” of $158,030, which Myers sent to Lagagneur’s escrow account on April 6, 2016. Lagagneur’s “proof of funds” letter told Montes there was $1 million in escrow for “The Role Model.” Lagagneur distributed the money from Myers to himself, Keyes and others who didn’t have anything to do with “The Role Model.”
Around this same time, Kathy Macias and JM Capital Investment were looking for other people’s money for both “The Role Model” and “Mena.” And Keyes and Lagagneur ran the same game on Macias with the same lies about cash access and demand for a “commitment deposit.” Macias sent $41,970 for “The Role Model” and $560,000 for “Mena,” $601,970 that Lagagneur misappropriated in the same manner.
Despite these affidavits, Kanner’s referee’s report said Legagneur “continually tried to re-litigate the criminal case to which he pleaded guilty. He portrayed himself more as a victim of the other co-defendant’s rather than someone who was complicit in the crime.”
Legagneur has been disbarred.
Roberto Masud, Miami
Roberto Masud (aka Robert Masud and admitted to the Bar in 1989) received $864,000 as an escrow agent. He misappropriated the funds in a series of actions that had case referee Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper opining “The Florida Bar was not seeking to prove a money laundering operation occurred, but it certainly smells like one did.”
READ MORE: A Miami lawyer received $864,000 as an escrow agent. All the money was gone 3 days later
Masud has been disbarred.
Susan Rachel Torres, Miami
On Jan 16, 2024, the Florida Bar informed Susan Rachel Torres — not to be confused with Susan Torres, a Florida-licensed attorney with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau —asking her to respond to a complaint by Kasey Jones before Jan. 31, 2024.
A Feb. 7 email from Torres included in court documents promised she would respond in two days. Torres didn’t respond then nor did she respond after March 30, when she said she’d work on the response.
Torres still hasn’t responded. If she doesn’t answer the Bar by Friday, Jan 17, she’ll found in contempt of court and be suspended until she satisfactorily answers.
