Maritime Attorney Scandal
Florida Judge Holds Two Maritime Attorneys
In Contempt Over Bribery Of RCI Corporate Employee
A Florida judge has held two Maritime attorneys in contempt, and another to face the Florida bar for disciplinary action after the three cut a deal behind the judge's back during a trial over infiltration and bribery within Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's corporate offices.
The scandal involving Maritime attorneys Jerrold K. (Jay) Wingate, who has suddenly "retired" to Botswana in Southern Africa, his former firm associate Peter Sotolongo and Brett Rivkind, has rocked the Maritime legal profession in South Florida and left 77 maritime victims wondering who would give them legal representation.
When it was all said and done, seven law firms argued cases before the judge, as to why $450,000 in ill-gotten client fees should not be returned to the rightful owners in one of the biggest legal scandals to hit Florida.
The law firms involved are:
The (Jerold [Jay]) Wingate Law Firm, LLC,
represented by McGrane Nosich & Ganz
(Pedro [Peter] Pablo) Sotolongo, P.A.,
represented by Saavedra Pelosi Goodwin & Hermann
(Brett) Rivkind, Pedraza & Margulies, P.A,
represented by Russomanno & Borrello
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines,
represented by Mase Lara & Eversole
The story begins back long before 2004, but we will begin there. William Huggett owned a law firm with associate Jay Wingate up until his death from a sudden stroke on August 31, 2004.
The law firm had been incorporated by Jacqueline Huggett, William Huggett's spouse on June 04, 1981, and run by William Huggett for 23 years before his death.
According to Department Of Justice records, at the time of Huggett's death Sara San Martin, a/k/a/ Sara Echeverria was employed as the firm's bookkeeper and office manager.
"San Martin had worked for the firm from October 10, 1993, to December 22, 2004, a period of approximately 11 years. During this time, she managed the office, hired employees, and payed the firm's bills and the personal bills of William Huggett using William Huggett's checkbooks.
William Huggett maintained a personal bank account at Bank-United in Coral Gables, Florida. The account was opened on September 17, 2002, and the beneficiary of this account was his wife, Jacqueline Huggett. The balance of this account as of the day his death, August 31,2004, was approximately $256,000.
William Huggett maintained a high performance money market account at Wachovia Bank, N.A. in Miami, Florida. The account was opened by Huggett on October 21, 2003, with an initial deposit of approximately $175,000. As of August 31,2004, the balance was approximately $576,000. With the exception of one check in June 2004, prior to August 31, 2004, there was no activity on this account except for interest accruals.
One week after Huggett's death, two checks were posted to two separate personal accounts of William Huggett. The first check in the amount of $236,800.00 was posted to Huggett's personal account at BankUnited on September 7, 2004. The check was made out to Wachovia Bank, N.A. and was the payoff for San Martin's personal mortgage.
The second check in the amount of $23,079.95 was posted to William Huggett's high performance money market account at Wachovia Bank, N.A. That check was the payoff for San Martin's loan for a new 2003 Dodge Ram 150 purchased in May 2003.
To conceal the fact that the checks were unauthorized and had forged signatures, SARA SAN MARTIN, a/k/a "Sara Echeverría," falsely dated the check drawn on Huggett's personal account, "8/18/04", and the check drawn on Huggett's high performance account,"8/19/04", to make it appear that the checks were written prior to William Huggett's death
San Martin, presented by the law firm of Brian Tannebaum admitted in court that she forged William Huggett's signature on both checks and that at the time that she did so she knew that he was deceased and that her actions were unauthorized. She was found guilty, and sentenced to one year in prison."
This left Jay Wingate to run the business. Huggett's widow, began fighting almost immediately for money she alleged was stolen from her, not just by Ms. San Martin, but also by Jay Wingate who took over the law practice.
Mrs. Huggett alleged that Wingate took all her husband's cases, about 100 in total, to a newly formed law firm and then charged her $739,000 for his bonuses and vacation pay.
Mrs. Huggett said that as her husband lay dying in the hospital, Jay Wingate approached her about appointing him as the firm's inventory attorney. Wingate said she needed to appoint him immediately to oversee the law firm's business to protect her interest in the firm and prevent the court from appointing a stranger, according to court papers.
The widow claimed that was in error, and it resulted in Wingate raiding her husband's company.
In February 2005, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Joseph P. Farina Jr. ruled against the widow, finding the duty owed to the clients outweighed any duty to her husband's firm and Wingate had the right to keep the late attorney's cases.
However, Farina removed Wingate as inventory attorney and appointed Anna Scornavacca, Huggett's attorney for 13 years.
The investigation into where all the money went after Mr. Huggett died continued on.
By 2006, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines would begin to see something was hinky at their corporate offices, and perhaps by no coicidence hired on former FBI agent Gary Bald to head their Risk Management Department.
Gary Bald, now having gone from the FBI to RCI had his work cut out for him. Royal Caribbean would say that as early as the summer of 2005, they had been inflitrated.
It is unclear what tipped off RCI, but it could have been one law firm always getting the maximum settlement for their clients that seemed like too high an average, compared to the history of their maximum settlements with other law firms.
