Doctor-Attorney Is Accused of Fraud
A prominent Glendale physician and lawyer was arraigned on a 13-count indictment in federal court in San Diego last week on charges that he committed bankruptcy fraud and laundered money, a federal prosecutor said Monday.
Gerald I. Sugarman, 58, was accused of concealing and diverting about $345,000 of revenue from his Glendale-based medical and legal practices so he could avoid repaying creditors after he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said Assistant U. S. Atty. George C. Aguilar.
The alleged infractions occurred between March, 1989, when Sugarman filed for bankruptcy in San Diego, and August, 1990, when a bankruptcy trustee seized Sugarman’s Los Feliz Medical Group, which was later sold to satisfy Sugarman’s creditors, Aguilar said.
The indictment says Sugarman and his sister, Darlynn Sugarman-Hines, used 11 different bank accounts and made real estate acquisitions to hide revenues from Sugarman’s medical and law practices, which prevented them from being considered part of the bankruptcy estate.
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