Aiding Fraud Draws Suspension

The Virgina State Bar reports the following sanction order:

On October 17, 2008, a three-judge panel of the Chesterfield County Circuit Court imposed a suspension of one  year and one day on Steven  Scott Biss, effective January 1, 2009. In a corporate and securities matter, he violated professional rules that govern competence, scope of representation, and misconduct that involved deliberately wrongful acts that reflect adversely on his fitness to practice.

The opinion recites findings that the attorney had assisted his corporate client in a fraudulent scheme and made misrepresentations to a judge. The attorney had represented a Hong Kong company that sought to purchase several million shares of a Delaware corporation. He violated securities laws (attributed to incompetence) and improperly released escroed shares to his client, which had not paid for them (attributed to dishonesty). (Mike Frisch)