The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld a $350,000 restitution order against a lawyer who was convicted in a scheme to defraud his law firm and its clients.
Arobert Tonagbanua, a former shareholder in the Haddonfield, New Jersey, office of Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, pleaded guilty in 2014 to a scheme to pad his billings to the tune of $1 million by altering court complaints to add names of firm clients to already-filed asbestos injury suits. He altered documents in more than 100 asbestos injury cases from 2008-2012, then undertook representation of those clients, according to prosecutors.
