The Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, Florida, is nearly $1.8 million richer thanks to Florida lawyer Jason Penrod. He is the owner of the law firm Family Elder Law, and in recent days he has managed to fill the headlines of various world media.
Money in the wrong hands
Charles Anderson and Sherry Prevoznik met with the trustee of their trust fund, who was Jason Penrod, in June. The trust fund was administered by Penrod after the death of their father, David Anderson, who passed away back in 2021. Anderson's children were the sole beneficiaries of the fund.
Penrod visited the siblings in Pennsylvania in June, where he told them in a coffee shop that the money from their trust fund was gone and he had lost it all at a casino. Penrod wanted to discuss the termination of the trust with them and also supplied them with documents in which he allegedly confessed to stealing the money.
He lost it all in a short period of time
The lawyer was supposed to admit in the letter to moving money from the fund into his private account starting in October 2023, and within just three months, he lost it all at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa. From the trust fund, he lost the sum of up to $1.75 million.
As he himself stated, he expected that this money was just a loan and that he would return it to the owners later with interest. However, he realized that the more money he had, the more he spent at the casino and he had no chance to repay that amount.
The two siblings, of course, sued him and also submitted letters to the court which were provided by the lawyer himself during the meeting in Pennsylvania. The victims' lawyer called Penrod in July, and asked him if all this information was true. Penrod is said to have confirmed everything.
The Florida Bar has confirmed that Penrod is currently facing disciplinary action, and he himself reportedly filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court in early August asking for the disciplinary action to be overturned. If the court grants it, it would halt the ongoing disciplinary proceedings, but would not save Penrod from charges and jail time.
Penrod explains his actions by saying he is a gambling addict and blames his unresolved childhood trauma and post-traumatic stress for the problem. In a letter he handed to the victims, he also suggested ways he could pay back the stolen money. He allegedly proposed a 10-year repayment term with payments every 3 months, access to his life insurance policy, hand over $401,000, sign over his law office building to the plaintiffs, and share in the profits from his law firm, which reportedly makes $2 million annually.
The injured siblings are seeking reimbursement from Penrod for the entire amount of the trust fund plus $50,000 in damages. However, some sources say the injured are seeking as much as $5.2 million in damages.
He closed all offices
How Penrod plans to repay the stolen money is questionable. If he loses his license his law firm will hardly make any income. In addition, Penrod owns offices in Lake Wales, Lakeland and Sebring, and all of his offices have been closed since July. He closed the offices without warning his clients.
Source - casino.org, gamblingnews, eu.theledger.com, vegasslotsonline.com, workerscompensationwatch.com, lakewalesnews.net, visittampabay.com, tuscaloosanews.com
