Lawyer accused of stealing over $2M from clients' estates and heirs
A suburban Chicago attorney was charged Wednesday with stealing more than $2 million from the estates and heirs of clients.
Authorities say Robert Beck, 48, of Wheaton, began stealing in 2011, taking $1 million from the estates of seven clients. He allegedly shifted another $1.26 million between trust accounts in an attempt to cover up the thefts, according to the Associated Press, the Daily Herald, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune (req. req.).
A suspicious bank investigator alerted Will County authorities, who contacted his office, says DuPage County state’s attorney Robert Berlin.
Beck allegedly used money from victimized estates to cover business and personal expenses, the Daily Herald reported.
The articles don’t include any comment from Beck, who was jailed in DuPage County last week in lieu of $250,000 bail, or his legal counsel.
