Local News in Brief : Arrest in Embezzlement
A Los Angeles attorney has been booked on suspicion of embezzling $196,484 in case settlement funds from 14 clients by misappropriating the proceeds for his own use, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Michael S. Kotzker, 41, arrested at his Phillips Ranch home near Diamond Bar, was scheduled to be arraigned on 14 counts of felony grand theft in Municipal Court late Tuesday. He also faces a hearing to make sure none of the money he may use to post $50,000 bail comes from the allegedly embezzled funds.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Frederick Stewart said that from March, 1983, to August, 1986, Kotzker obtained $196,484 in case settlement funds belonging to 14 clients and misappropriated the proceeds for his own use. Stewart said Kotzker, who maintains a Wilshire Boulevard law office, obtained the funds without his clients’ knowledge.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
