California. Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
More newz from the morally and financially bankrupt state of Kali-for-nia.
Thirty-eight year old, Irvine attorney Sandeep Baweja, Esquire, and stock “guru” pro-tem has admitted to pissing away over $2.7 million, that was supposed to be held in his “trust” account and paid out to plaintiffs he represented in a class action suit against ZipRealty.
Baweja allegedly replaced $500k of the funds he “Madoff” with leaving the unsuspecting victors $2 million short. Their funds apparently got Drier’d in the stock market.
We’d like to understand more about this case. First of all, investing client funds in the stock market is NOT kosher even under the self-serving lawyer laws of California. Baweja claims he did this because the rate of interest the bank was paying on the funds was so low see: Irvine attorney admits burning through settlement funds.
I guess we’re supposed to buy into the notion that had the stocks he invested in appreciated he would have paid the gains along with the principal back into the trust account for the benefit of his clients? Undoubtedly, this is one angle his attorney Jeffrey H. Rutherford of Crowell & Moring LLP in Los Angeles is going to take.
Here’s another humorous (read hypocritical) take on who’s to blame. Ernest J. Franceschim, Esquire another attorney handling the ZipRealty case on behalf of the Plaintiffs said he plans to try to recoup the funds from the Banks holding the funds entrusted to Baweja see: Irvine attorney admits burning through settlement funds.
Here we go again. It’s the bankers’ fault. For [_____]’s sake. The system is broken. Fix it! Such trust funds should be held by a third party not attorneys. Lawyers need to be regulated. And not by their own kind. How did Baweja’s transfer of substantially all of the funds from the trust account to his brokerage account escape Franceschim’s notice? Was there no diligence on Franceschim’s part? Does he not have a fiduciary duty to the Plaintiffs too? Of course he does.
And for another crazy facet to this case, according to a victim client interviewed by Greg Hardesty of the Orange County Register (see: Irvine attorney admits burning through settlement funds) Baweja advised a client err victim err client who contacted him to inquire about “his” proceeds from the suit, that he’d better hire another lawyer. For #@&*’s sake. More lawyers. Who’s going to pay the other lawyer? The Plaintiffs? They won’t see a nickel from this catastrophe. In fact they may just be net, net negative at the end of the day. But the lawyers will certainly profit. This vicious cycle needs to stop but won’t until the American public wakes up and figures out this is Rome all over again.
We understand the State Bar of California is “pinched” for cash. It’s been a horrible year for the crooks they “regulate!” The stock market’s tumble has brought many of their schemes into public view which has left corrupt officials reeling because it’s much more difficult to do shady backroom deals with hundreds of angry victims roaming around “outside the walls of the castle causing trouble.” So we thought we’d help the “Bar” by taking a stab at the “in mitigation” paragraph of their “forthcoming” discipline summary for monsieur Baweja. We’ll of course adhere to their custom of not summarizing the significant impact on the attorney’s victims because that might tune the public into the real cost of lawyer misconduct and roil them up.
Here goes:
In mitigation, Mr. Baweja has no history of discipline with the California Bar. He admitted his “misappropriation” of client trust funds, has attempted to repay his clients victims clients and fully cooperated with the Bar’s investigation. In addition, Mr. Baweja attended is UC Santa Barbara, obtained his juris doctorate from Syracuse University College of Law, and has been civically active promoting the “Hate Crimes Prevention Project,” sitting on the board of the Irvine Public Schools Foundation and was a “field coordinator” for Al Gore’s 2000 campaign—so he can’t be all Evil.
We think this case will boil down to how big a sack of cash Baweja “leaves” in a judges chamber or at the attorney discipline offices of the State Bar of California. Evil’s advice to Mr. Baweja. Hire a “reel” lawyer– Miles Ehrlich. His client, Marsha-Marcia Hatch of Gunderson Dettmer can surely appeal to her narcotics trafficking/money laundering client to help you cover the State Bar’s “fees.” That coupled with the mitigation paragraph we drafted should net you a three year suspension, “stayed”, with an actual 90-day suspension and five years probation. If you plead “insanity,” they’re likely to admit you to the bar’s “diversion” program and you’ll be practicing again in no time.
There is one bright “happy” side to all of this. Baweja will have plenty of losses to carry back and forward to offset taxable income. He may even get a refund!
We’d like to hear from the victims of Mr. Baweja’s “alleged” misappropriation (that’s lawyer parlance for when a lawyer steals funds—misappropriation doesn’t sound so Evil) regarding the impact on you and your families.
Update: Lawsuit filed against Sandeep Baweja and Ernest J. Franceschi. Download it here: [Baweja Lawsuit]
Interesting blog. Keep promoting it.
Interesting! Franceschim is obviously trying to spin this to escape liability. The CalBar doesn’t understand breach of fiduciary duty. It’s too nebulous a concept for them so I doubt they’ll proceed against Franceschim– at least on that course… if at all.
Somebody should start a class action lawsuit against the California Bar Association. They are corrupt!
this asshole took a $675k fee too. we’ll never see any of the money from this suit and I agree with #3 the California Bar administrators are a bunch of corrupt fuks. i filed a complaint about my ex-wife’s lawyer. she gave false evidence to the judge in our case and they didn’t even look into it. fortunately for me the judge didn’t consider it but what if he had? i’d be screwed and these assholes would do nothing.
My husband and I were shorted $13000, which were stolen by Sandeep. I made several calls immediately after the judgement and he told me funds were held in savings waiting to finalize the number of plaintiffs and get approval to take the “unclaimed funds” and disburse to the clients, resulting in MORE money for us. He lied to me, multiple times over several months. That $13000 would have allowed us to become debt free and put a chunk into savings for our children. He continues to practice a lucrative law career and we still struggle. That’s justice.
Do you really believe he lost the money? I am a victim of this creep and I want justice. I don’t hold out much hope of ever recovering anything. I have never been able to get an exact figure out of anyone over at Garden City Group or from Baweja after numerous calls and emails starting back in March 2008. The original letter stated that Zip Realty owed me $3,500.00 but no one would ever confirm anything after that first letter. I received his smarmy letter of apology this past weekend, the 24th of January. It was dated 20 January 2009. I started looking into this and I found this blog on an Indian website: http://sandeepbaweja.blogspot.com/ Someone named Sandeep Baweja was looking to invest 2 Million over there on the 28th of December 2008, 4 days after he supposedly came clean to the judge. Has anyone looked into those allegations that he has ties to Hamas and other radical Islam groups? Just curious if the FBI or DHS might be interested.
If they haven’t seized his passport yet, they better.
#6– Baweja is a California Lawyer. Very few California lawyers are actually prosecuted for their “misconduct.” If you are not a lawyer, “misappropriation” is theft but in CA, in most cases, it’s not a criminal offense if you are a lawyer, particularly a well connected lawyer. Lawyers are exempt because… well because they are essentially licensed criminals. See the case of Githaiga Ramsey. We’re very familiar with this case because Githaiga’s brother’s law partner is Miles Ehrlich, a former federal prosecutor who was supposedly prosecuting criminals in the San Francisco Bay area around the same time Githaiga was not prosecuted for “misappropriating” funds from a client. Ehrlich “declined” to prosecute Marcia Hatch et al see: http://www.evilesq.com/tag/atl/ around the same time as well. These folks are well connected politically (they donate to the Democratic party) and in the legal community so they are exempt from prosecution. The FBI work for the DOJ who limit what they can do about this problem. Lawyers and law firms are above the law… they are America’s aristocrats. There’s no way to quickly solve this problem. “Rome” will have to fall first.
Good luck and keep us updated!
I was one of the lucky few that did receive my funds. They were one third of what I was originally told I would receive. I only got the money after months of communicating with him and his office and finally threatening to contact the State Bar of California and the Attorney Generals Office. I had my money two days later by wire transfer. In my heart I had a feeling something was fishy. But had no idea the magnitude of his fraudulent actions. My heart goes out to those who have gotten nothing. Although, how can I be sure the amount I received was the correct amount as I never received any commission statements? Also, should we as a class have the right to recover our 25% in attorneys fees we paid to the people who were supposed to be there to protect us?
Just found out from a friend, 2 cases are filed against him
Case Number: 2:2009cv00292
Filed: February 12, 2009
Court: Nevada District Court
Case Number: 2:2009cv01449
Filed: March 2, 2009
Court: California Central District Court
What does this mean???
Another suit. Well of course that means more lawyers! And more Legal fees! Undoubtedly there are bunches of other opportunistic Esqs ruminating on how they can get in on the action too. Unless the defendant(s) have insurance that will cover Sandeep’s foray into the stock market, it also means less for Baweja Law “clients.” One not too remote possibility is that a Federal Judge could consolidate the suits. We always suggest that you contact an attorney if you are concerned about the impact of events on any claims you may have. Any Esquires following this care to comment… anonymously?
Just checked… the California Bar Clowns still list Bawej’s license as active. Wonder what they’re “thinking”? Perhaps that he can ponzi his way out of this?
*** IMPORTANT *** When retaining California Attorneys— Use Prophylactics
Update! Baweja still listed as active on Cal Barffoons website.
I’ve been ripped off by two attorneys. One time we were able to get the MF disbarred, as he been pocketing retainers and not doing any work. The second time an attorney had pocketed some stock certificates when he was supposedly helping my mother untangle my uncles estate. The attorney then claimed he never received the certificates. What I found works with these crooks is heavy doses of internet publicity. Ripoffreport.com will eventually connect with google to the point when enough complaints come on. It gets to the point where you’ll type Sandeep’s name into any search engine and an avalanche of negative info comes out to the point he becomes a totally obsolete as an attorney or businessman and his only choice is to do the right thing.
correct name of co counsel is ernest franseschi. look up his great track record on the internet
the State Bar of California has decided to let Sandeep Baweja voluntarily stop practicing law in California. By taking this action he will NOT be disbarred. In 5-10 years he can apply to reinstate his license. What does this mean for those of us who were cheated? This means that the California Bar Association has closed the case and will not work on behalf of any clients cheated in this debacle. Their explanation is that they only go after “attorneys.” Since he relinquished his license he is no longer an attorney and they can’t continue pursuing the case.
Has anybody who has been ripped off by this guy actually filed a complaint with the State Bar of California, FBI, local police? If not, why not? Don’t expect the other guy to do it? Certainly his theft crimes alone constitute “crimes of moral turpitude” (the type of conduct that the State Bar considers disbarment.) Without a doubt this guy should never be allowed to practice law again. In addition, the list of state and federal crimes he has committed is ridiculous, including wire fraud, grand theft, bank fraud, etc. He should easily do 20 years. If this guy has screwed you, then file your complaints. He should not be allowed to get away with this.
Scam’d-it finally got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, its time to rejoice. Whoa those ponies>>>Not that fast folks, come down outta those clouds cause he’s still up to his same old tricks, just not in the same way.
Here’s the scoop, ready?
Sources around the water-cooler say he has a new firm, they call themselves Paragon Business Lawyers. Paragon is really a spin-off of Baweja Law Group, a Scam’d-it brain-child (since he thought it up himself, ewe), which is covertly operating underneath the name and license of a former Scam’d-it employee named Kamran Malik. Now your probably thinking to yourselves ??? Old Kamran might just shoulda beat some serious feet. Huh, am I right? Yep, I’m right.
So here’s what we think is going on, and besides us thinking it, its highly probable too. Drum roll please>>>>
Mr. Malik may have gotten some serious cash to stay on and keep the business going. Look at it this way;
Kamran’s now big man on the totem pole (just picture a fat man with a huge stick who has an equally fat wallet too), perfectly positioned to take all the glory, while Scam’d-it stays behind and out of view. What more could anyone ask?
Well it goes something like this;
Scam’d-it is content for now, conjuring up his concoctions of bedlam and deceit. Full well knowing he has a few short years until all is forgotten and out of the way. Besides, he’s doing what he does best, he’s created another smoke screen, just like he always does, one way or another. No matter how he has to do it, he will achieve it, taking the blame off himself and casting it upon others. Especially those who are unfamiliar of who their really dealing with, and that’s just the way he likes it.
So the moral of the story is here>>>
Lawyers are spin masters. They take their clients words, always opting to reformulate them; we know the truth is never really being told. But hey, after all, thats what its about. So next time, if there is a time and the law rears its ugly head, realize who your dealing with and know they shouldn’t be entirely trusted.
This isn’t Baweja’s first rodeo either;
He’s had disputes against him before, a professional negligence in San Diego, Ca is currently ongoing. There’s also the countless hours he’s known to have spent defending the myriad of companies his father owns, a licensed CA real estate broker. Between the two of them, its safe to say this won’t be their last rodeo either.
UPDATE: BAWEJA agrees to plead guilty to wire fraud and obstruction of justice. See: OC Attorney To Plead Guilty To Losing Clients