The accused, Anita Laureen Clark, is free on $150,000 bond
CITY HALL — Thirty-seven criminal charges have been filed against a Santa Monica woman who allegedly posed as an attorney, took more than $60,000 from clients and, in many cases, never performed any legal work.
Anita Laureen Clark, 43, who worked out of an office at 204 Bicknell St., turned herself in to police late Monday and was freed on a $150,000 bond. She is accused of bilking 31 clients out of a total of $60,152, according to a criminal complaint filed last month by the City Attorney’s Office.
Officials were tracking Clark for more than a year. But Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky said they didn’t realize the extent of Clark’s illegal activities until August, when investigators seized her home and office records.
Clark faces 15 counts of grand theft by fraud for allegedly lying to her clients in order to gain their business, 21 counts of practicing law without a license — as a lawyer and as a paralegal — and one count of illegally acting as an immigration consultant. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 6 in Santa Monica Municipal Court.
“The 31 victims came to her with a wide variety of legal complaints. There was a wide variety of victims as well as a wide variety of legal areas in which she was practicing,” said Radinsky, who declined to pinpoint the types of law.
If convicted on all counts, Clark could face up to 37 years in prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
Neither Clark nor Richard DeBro, her Santa Monica-based attorney, could be reached for comment Tuesday. Each of four numbers listed online for Clark’s legal operation, which went by three different names — “Clark & Clark Associates,” “A. Clark & Associates” and “A.C. &
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 10, 2003. Read the original PDF.