A lawyer who stole insurance checks from her clients on African safaris, big game hunts, expensive cigars and holidays at a nudist resort has been sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $4.5 million in restitution.
Laura E.Deveny57, was sentenced in federal court to Portland to January 9 after pleading guilty to charges of money laundering, identity theft, tax and fraud in June.
Prosecutors said the Oregon lawyer illegally cashed insurance proceeds from more than 135 clients between 2011 and 2019.
According to court documents and the United States Attorney’s Office for Oregon“Deveny used manipulation and deception to systematically defraud at least 135 customers out of more than $3.8 million in insurance proceeds that it held in trust on their behalf. To accomplish his scheme, Deveny stole the identities of his clients, forged insurance checks made out to them, deposited client funds into his personal bank accounts, and continually lulled clients into a false hope that they would receive a compensation for their injuries. Many of Deveny’s victims were especially vulnerable to his criminal behavior after sustaining serious brain and body injuries and never received the insurance payments they were owed.”
The federal prosecutor’s office said the attorney used those ill-gotten gains to fund a “lavish lifestyle.”
“Deveny used the proceeds of his scheme to pay more than $150,000 on foreign and domestic air tickets, more than $173,000 on African safaris and big game hunting trips, $35,000 on taxidermy fees, $125,000 on home renovations, $195,000 in mortgage payments, more than $220,000 in cigars and related expenses, $58,000 on boarding and veterinary expenses, $41,000 on recreational vehicle expenses, $50,000 for a Cadillac luxury vehicle and $60,000 on stays in a luxury naturist resort in Palm Springs, California,” according to US Attorney’s Office.
