Trust Scammers Refuse to Pay Penalty; Hurl Insults at Court

James Nash reports in the Columbus Dispatch that the Ohio Supreme Court's attempts to collect more than $7 million from two companies accused of scamming senior citizens are not going well.  According to the Columbus paper, the court on Monday handed off the collection action to the office of Attorney General Richard Cordray, who employs lawyers and others to shake loose money from reluctant debtors.

Jeffrey and Stanley Norman, owners of two companies that were fined $6.4 million Oct. 14 for having non-lawyers perform legal functions as part of an alleged trust-mill scam targeting the elderly, now owe more than $7 million with penalties for non-payment.  The Normans unsuccessfully tried to get the Supreme Court to rehear the case, but "[w]hen that failed, Jeffrey Norman lashed out at the court, accusing justices of a 'disgusting abuse of power.'"

Reportedly, Norman has said he would not pay the fine, calling it unfair, and he has put his southern California home on the market for $4.9 million.  Even if the state does collect the money, the proceeds won't go directly to victims of the alleged scam. The funds, under court rules, go toward the cost of investigating allegations of unauthorized practice of law, continuing legal education and other purposes.

The Normans were principals in the American Family Prepaid Legal Corporation scheme that resulted in The Ohio Supreme Court instituting a civil penalty in excess of six million dollars.  I wrote about the Court's action last November (2009), under the blog entitled "Court Imposes $6.3 Million Civil Penalty on "Trust Mill" Companies and Owners."