Opinion ID: 1819047
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Subsection 8B

Text: Subsection 8B alleges conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation that was prejudicial to the administration of justice, and that such conduct was in conflict with respondent's duties as Attorney General in the full investigation of the Commonwealth matter. The transactions between the respondent and Marvin Copple in which Commonwealth Savings Company was involved were characterized by deception and subterfuge. On their face, the purchase agreements, notes, mortgages, and other documents purported to be binding obligations which created indebtedness on the part of the respondent and his associate, Paul Galter. The respondent, however, contends that these were merely devices by which he would be compensated by sharing in the profit or gain when the property was eventually sold, and that the instruments did not really represent a present indebtedness. Yet the April 20, 1977, promissory note and mortgage in the amount of $241,774 to Commonwealth was the device by which Copple obtained that amount from Commonwealth for his own benefit. The respondent signed the note and mortgage and endorsed the Commonwealth check to Copple, and when these transactions were reported for tax purposes, they were treated as capital transactions in which the gain or loss was claimed as a capital gain or loss. By engaging in the various transactions that the respondent had with Copple, the respondent facilitated the flow of funds from Commonwealth to Copple through the use of documents which the respondent claims were not what they appeared and purported to be. Although the respondent himself may not have personally profited greatly from these transactions, they enabled Copple to extract large sums of money from Commonwealth when it in fact was in a precarious financial condition. We find that the respondent, by these transactions, engaged in conduct involving deceit and misrepresentations, in violation of DR 1-102(A)(4), for which he is subject to discipline.