Local Today has a report on recent disciplinary charges by the Californis State Bar

A Redondo Beach City Council attorney accused of embezzling half a million dollars for a former client now faces additional disciplinary action over his explanation of why the money was not turned over.

The five disciplinary charges announced Thursday by the State Bar of California, including attempting to mislead a judge and making false statements to the Superior Court, have set in motion a disciplinary process that has been used in the most extreme cases could end with a professional ban.

City Councilman Zein E. Obagi Jr. has denied the allegations, saying prosecutors are exaggerating. He has already faced seven disciplinary complaints filed in July 2021, including allegations that he “willfully embezzled” $515,000.

Two years ago, according to disciplinary proceedings, Obagi’s account was paid $1.9 million as part of a settlement agreement to sell a cannabis dispensary, the Valley Herbal Healing Center. Obagi represented the owners and, according to prosecution files, was supposed to transfer $515,000 of that settlement money to his former client, Eric Dominguez.

Now prosecutors claim he gave false information about what happened to the money.

In a lawsuit filed in 2021, Obagi accused another attorney involved in the settlement agreement, saying that the attorney was responsible for wiring the settlement money to Dominguez

“The new indictment alleges additional wrongdoing by Obagi, specifically false statements he made in a lawsuit he filed in court,” Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said.

In an interview, Obagi called the latest charges “ridiculous” and said he was just the latest target of an overzealous prosecutor.

“I never thought the bar would charge me for anything. Now that I’ve been, it’s a total, absolute nightmare. That’s not justice,” he said. “I could have been more diligent at different times, but that’s about it.”

A recent Times investigation found that prosecutors are pursuing attorneys without the capital or political clout to fight back a population that is disproportionately black, while ignoring the misconduct of some of the state’s most prominent attorneys, like Tom Girardi, by millions embezzled dollars from clients and was the subject of more than 200 lawsuits by prosecutors.

Obagi, who said he is part of a small company, believes the charges against him are part of that pattern.

“It’s a machine. It’s churning for convictions,” he said. “That’s all it feeds on, so that’s what it’s for.”

The original charges, filed in 2021, are still pending. Obagi said an agreement between him and prosecutors was rejected by a judge because there was no evidence the alleged embezzlement was intentional.

A status conference is scheduled for January 30, at which the court will decide how to proceed with both counts.