Attorney Bilked Elderly Clients' Estates: Sheriff

SARASOTA, FL — A 38-year-old estate attorney from Venice faces criminal charges after Sarasota County deputies say he bilked clients out of thousands of dollars. The arrest of Adam Russell Miller was announced Wednesday.

The case against Miller began to build in 2013 when an elderly couple named Miller as their trustee, an arrest report states. After the Law Office of Adam Miller began overseeing the couple’s estate, detectives say cash withdrawals and wire transfers were made to both Miller’s business and personal accounts.

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Miller is accused of taking money out of the couple’s accounts before their deaths and continuing to siphon cash from the estate after they both passed away. In that case, Miller is accused of “a total financial loss” of $408,850, according to the arrest report.

Miller is also accused of swiping an estimated $37,925 from the trust of another client after his death. A third case alleges Miller misappropriated about $300,000 from the estate of another client.

Miller was charged with one count of exploitation of the elderly over $50,000, two counts of scheme to defraud over $50,000 and scheme to defraud $20,000 to $40,000. He was brought into custody on June 6.

Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office