A Grosse Pointe Park attorney is accused of keeping up to $100,000 that a deceased client desigated as a Michigan Human Society donation.
Anthony Semaan, 63, has a probable cause hearing Thursday at 16th District Court in Livonia, where his office is located. He was arraigned last week on a felony charge of embezzling $50,000 to $100,000.
The case was investigated by the financial crimes division of the state attorney general's office. "The victim's trust [document] very clearly identified how the funds were to be disbursed," Attorney General Dana Nessel says in a statement. "By law, the defendant had a duty to adhere to the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct.
"It is concerning to know that someone who was in a position to carry out the wishes of the deceased may have taken advantage of that position."
Her office gives this background in a media release:
Semaan drafted the victim’s trust in 2011 and the individual later passed away in 2013. Fifty percent of the victim’s trust was allocated to the Michigan Humane Society. ... Charitable trust provisions required that the Attorney General’s office be involved.
In 2016, after all expenses were paid, Semaan was tasked with distributing the funds according to what was specified in the trust. It is alleged that he placed a total of $262,732 into his lawyer’s trust/escrow account, distributed two payments to individuals named in the trust, but did not provide the Michigan Humane Society with a notice of their interest in the trust or with the 50% disbursement.
