ST. LOUIS (CN) - A lawyer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three federal counts of mail fraud. Steven P. Gartenberg, 46, is accused of stealing $300,000 from clients.
Gartenberg's attorney, Art Margulis, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Gartenberg has been disbarred.
The indictment states that Gartenberg took more than $100,000 from the estate of a client who died in 2009, and instead of following the client's wishes to send the money to the Kirkwood United Methodist Church, the Alzheimer's Association and three individuals, Gartenberg kept the money for personal and business uses. Gartenberg also made $200,000 in unapproved withdrawals after he was appointed guardian of a mentally disabled woman in 2007, according to the indictment.
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