A Southern California attorney has been disbarred after he misappropriated more than $116,000 from his clients and used some of that money to fund his gambling habit, all while claiming he was terminally ill with cancer to cover up his misconduct.
Sergio Valdovinos Ramirez (State Bar No. #318157) was disbarred Friday after a disbarment recommendation was filed in July 2023 by Judge Yvette D. Roland.
The State Bar Court’s Review Department officially ruled he should be disbarred this past June when he was found culpable of all 19 ethical violations he was charged with, state legal officials said in a media release issued Monday.
Valdovinos Ramirez, of Manhattan Beach, “cheated” his clients out of their funds “in part, to feed his gambling habit,” the State Bar of California stated.
He then lied about being terminally ill with cancer to justify various delays in his work for clients, officials added.
“Mr. Valdovinos Ramirez cheated his clients out of their funds, in part, to feed his gambling habit; he then showed no remorse and lied about a life-threatening illness to avoid taking responsibility for his misconduct,” said Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona. “Disbarment is entirely appropriate in this case.”
In their June ruling, the court review department stated that Valdovinos Ramirez’s misappropriation of funds was “unrelenting,” saying that he would often deplete his bank accounts and use the entrusted funds for his own purposes, including gambling, as soon as he received clients’ funds.
Two specific incidents were cited by the State Bar Association, including one case in which Valdovinos Ramirez misappropriated all $73,965 in advance fees that were supposed to be for a client’s representation in a conservatorship matter.
In another incident, he was hired to represent a person filing a discrimination case against their employer; however, he never filed a case – even providing the client with a fake case number – and told them that the case had been settled for $58,000.
Afterwards, Valdovinos Ramirez wrote large checks to the client, when he knew there were no settlement fees nor money in his accounts to cover the checks.
Valdovinos Ramirez also failed to provide any support for his claim that he had terminal cancer and was being treated by a Dr. Stephen Chang at City of Hope, one of America’s largest and most well-known cancer research and treatment organizations.
Not only was it found that the ex-attorney wasn’t undergoing treatment there, it was also found that Dr. Stephen Chang did not exist, officials added.
“This misconduct was exacerbated by the additional dishonesty in which he engaged,” the ruling read in part. “Valdovinos Ramirez lied to his clients to stall the discovery of his misappropriation and failure to follow through on work he had assured clients he performed.”
“A key part of this cover-up was to issue numerous checks with insufficient funds to several clients, again breaching the fundamental rule of ethics, which is honesty,” the ruling continued.
As a result of his disbarment order, Valdovinos Ramirez must pay five former clients nearly $117,000 in restitution, plus 10% interest.
He had been admitted to the State Bar of California on Dec. 7, 2017, according to the State Bar’s website.
