Politics & Government

Local Attorney Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

Thomas Dickson's law firm is located near Powers Ferry Road and Windy Ridge Parkway.

by Rodney Thrash

Thomas Dickson, who last worked for Taylor English Duma LLP in Cobb, surrendered his law license in March.

In October, he will find out if he loses his freedom for the next 20 years, too.

Dickson today pleaded guilty to stealing more than $300,000 from clients over a nearly two-year period.

"As a lawyer, Dickson had a duty to act with his clients’ best interests in mind," United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement. "Instead, he used his position at the law firm to steal from clients he was supposed to protect."

While a release from Yates' office does not name the law firm, Dickson's LinkedIn profile shows that he last worked for Taylor English Duma LLP. Now known as Taylor English, the law firm is on Parkwood Circle, near Powers Ferry Road and Windy Ridge Parkway.

In December 2008, people who lost their life savings when an Idaho company filed for bankruptcy turned to Dickson to represent their interests in the bankruptcy action, according to Bob Page, Yates' spokesman. That company, DBSI Inc., sold tenants in common investments or fractional ownership interests in commercial real estate to investors across the country.

In 2009, Dickson encouraged more than 50 tenants in common owners to transfer rents and other income into the firm's trust account, Page said. Between Feb. 24, 2010, and Jan. 6, 2012, Dickson directed the firm's accounting department to transfer more than $300,000 from that trust account to a business checking account in Plano, Texas, he said.

"Dickson led the firm's accounting department to believe that the funds were being transferred on behalf of TIC clients to pay third party expenses," Page said. "Instead the money was transferred into a personal checking account controlled by Dickson and his wife."

After the firm initiated an internal investigation in January 2012, Dickson was terminated. He surrendered his law license in March 2013, which is the equivalent of disbarment.

Dickson, 52, is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Oct. 30. In addition to a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, the wire fraud charge carries a fine of up to $250,000.


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