Man Is Fined for Trying to Bribe Lawyer

In what experts said could be a record penalty, a federal judge in Santa Ana has fined a Garden Grove businessman $700,000 for attempting to bribe an attorney who was acting as the receiver in a bitter family assets dispute.

U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor said the businessman, Frederick “Jack” Hanshaw, attempted to “improperly and corruptly” influence the actions of the receiver by offering him $100,000 and the promise of future employment.

Others who deal with receiverships said that bribery is extremely rare and that they’ve never come across such a large penalty.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this,” said Bob Warren, a receiver for the Santa Ana-based Investors’ Property Service. “The receiver who reported this--you have to hand it to him.”

Legal scholars said the fine is understandable given the seriousness of the charges.

“The role of the receiver is that of an assistant to the judge; he is a court employee, in effect. The person is, in effect, trying to bribe a court,” said Michael Schmitt, a law professor at Southwestern University School of Law.

“That is a pretty serious infraction, so that kind of reaction by a judge doesn’t surprise me at all,” he said.

In the scathing ruling, Taylor wrote that the large fine was unusual but warranted in a case that had degenerated into a “highly emotional, mean-spirited war of brother against brother.”

The receiver, Irvine attorney Richard Marshack, was in the process of dividing $8 million in assets disputed between Hanshaw and his brother, Gordon “Randy” Hanshaw, a real estate developer who lives in Arizona.

“The amounts of money at stake in this dispute were large, and the advantage to be gained by corruptly influencing the receiver was great,” wrote Taylor. “The parties are wealthy, and the nature of the dispute between them had long ago deteriorated from a normal business difference.”

Appointed by courts to manage or divide disputed assets, receivers are entrusted with carrying out the most delicate tasks in a case and must maintain impartiality.

The case stems from a dispute over the finances of a real estate development in Bullhead, Ariz., in which the brothers were partners. After a trial in 1997, Taylor dissolved the partnership and appointed the receiver to divide the assets.

Marshack, in court records, said Frederick Hanshaw offered him the bribe during a lunch at an Irvine restaurant in June. He said Frederick Hanshaw, a onetime milkman who built a multimillion-dollar fortune investing in shopping centers, promised him $100,000 to “resolve” the case.

When Marshack refused the offer, Frederick Hanshaw persisted, offering him money to be his attorney. Marshack notified the court 10 days after the lunch, saying he was initially unsure if the offers could be construed as bribes, according to court records.

Marshack declined to comment on the matter. Attorneys for Frederick Hanshaw did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The attorney for Gordon Hanshaw, Tim McCandless, said the fine was large but not enough to satisfy his client. Of the $700,000 levied, only $200,000 will go to Gordon Hanshaw; the remaining $500,000 will go to the federal government.

McCandless said his client hoped for a larger portion of the fine that he could use to cover his legal bills.

“We don’t consider that enough, considering my client’s expenses far exceeded $200,000,” he said.