Credit Card Use Charged

A complaint posted on the web page of the Illinois ARDC (which has a snazzy, user friendly new look) alleges that an attorney improperly accessed and used his employer’s credit card.

Respondent was in house counsel

From January 2016 until February 2020, Respondent was employed as in-house counsel with Professional National Title Network (“PNTN”). PNTN provides a variety of services to businesses and attorneys, primarily acting as a title agent in real estate transactions…

At no time did anyone from PNTN give Respondent a copy of PNTN’s corporate American Express card. Respondent, sometime prior to February 2019, wrote down and retained the American Express Card’s number, expiration date, and security code. At no time did anyone from PNTN authorize Respondent to retain this information.

Prior to February 2019, Respondent established merchant accounts with Square, Inc. (“Square”) and Intuit, Inc. (“Intuit”). These accounts, which linked to Respondent’s personal checking account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, allowed Respondent to accept payments via credit card. Funds from these payments, less a processing fee, would be deposited directly into Respondent’s personal checking account.

Allegedly

In total, from February 21, 2019 and continuing through January 16, 2020, Respondent used PNTN’s American Express card to charge funds to himself on at least 90 separate occasions. Respondent used the merchant accounts he created through Square and Intuit to facilitate these transactions. During that time period, Respondent charged at least $136,745.79 to himself using PNTN’s American Express Card.

When discovered, it is alleged

PNTN discovered the charges made by Respondent to himself in late January 2020. When confronted about the charges, Respondent initially told his supervisors at PNTN that he only used the American Express card for legitimate business reasons, such as registering for continuing legal education courses. This statement was false, as none of the charges that Respondent made to himself were authorized or used for legitimate business reasons. Shortly thereafter, in early February 2020, PNTN terminated Respondent’s employment.

 In February 2020, PNTN reported the transactions by Respondent…to American Express as fraudulent and unauthorized. American Express conducted an investigation and determined that PNTN was not responsible for the charges by Respondent on PNTN’s American Express card.

A second count alleges false statements to the Administrator. (Mike Frisch)