Disgraced Pines Attorney Charged With 22 Counts Of Fraud
PEMBROKE PINES (CBS4) - First he was disbarred, now he's in jail.
One time Pembroke Pines attorney Mark Foster Dickson was arrested on 22 charges of theft and fraud.
Investigators say Dickson stole more than one million dollars from the clients and companies he was representing.
According to an arrest affidavit, investigators say Dickson, at the time a member of the Florida Bar, had been engaged in the misappropriation of client funds that he then utilized for personal use.
"Mr. Dickson would negotiate a settlement without his client's knowledge," Assistant state Attorney Catherine Maus told a judge Thursday morning. "He would forge the release forms. The funds would be deposited into one of his accounts. In one of these claims the money was deposited into a personal account."
Investigators say it went on for years and they are still trying to figure out where the money went.
"We don't know whether it was sent offshore or to the Bahamas," said Broward Court Judge John "Jay" Hurley.
Dickson's attorney pleaded for a reduction in the $420,000 bond.
"I don't want to get into the facts and circumstances surrounding the case itself, but it's our position that there are some defenses that exist," said defense attorney Mitchell Polay. "He doesn't have any prior record at all judge."
But that wasn't enough to get Dickson released or his bond lowered.
He remains in jail until a bond hearing can be held that will determine whether any of the money being used for the bond is from the funds he's accused of stealing.
