THE TALE OF A BAAAD EMPLOYEE: My Paralegal Tried To Kill Me!
In this business, as long as I've been in it, you think you've seen it all and then a new story comes along and you realize there's always something out there that's coming to top the last story you thought couldn't be topped. In a report out of Texas, an attorney was defrauded out of at least $800,000 from a "trusted employee" (we've worked too many cases to count where a "trusted employee" defrauded their employer) as well as poisoned. Yes, you read that right. Poisoned!!!
Arturo Guzman, a sole practitioner in San Marcos, Texas, had one employee, his only employee, Ashley Szymonek, who was with him for 10 years and had his total trust. And I do mean total. Guzman allowed Szymonek to be the firm's primary contact for his bankers, accountants, and other professions and she handled almost all of the email traffic in and out of the office. We tell all business clients of EXCALIBUR Legal Support - Private Investigation that they should NEVER place this kind of trust in one employee. It's a recipe for disaster but yet we've seen it time and time again.
This all started when Guzman was sued by a client over allegations that he improperly withheld funds. Guzman, trusty guy that he is, relied on Szymonek to contact his malpractice insurance carrier to get an attorney to represent him. Of course, unbeknownst to him, Szymonek had let his coverage lapsed and no attorney was retained although, according to court papers, she led him to believe he did have coverage and an attorney. Lo and behold Guzman gets disbarred in February of 2020 which was a secret to him for weeks until a fellow tenant in his building told him he was surprised to hear he'd been disbarred.
On April 29, 2020, Guzman was discovered in an office where all the doors locks had broken off keys inside them, bloated with vomit on his face. At the hospital the doctors suspected poisoning, likely from ingesting a large amount of antifreeze. He ended up in a coma for days. To complete the story Szymonek was arrested on a property theft charge, though never charged with the suspected poisoning.
Are you a small, medium or even large business owner? If you suspect you have an employee that you've given too much trust to who may be embezzling funds, contact us immediately. We've worked literally hundreds of these cases and there's not any way of skimming funds that we haven't seen. We've seen it all and know what to look for and where to look for it.
Lee Walters
President
EXCALIBUR Private Investigation
www.excaliburlegalsupport.com
352.509.8900; 719.208.4088; 505.208.6400; 803.806.7800
Serving all of Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and South Carolina
About the author. R. Lee Walters is a retired FBI Agent with over 24 years of federal law enforcement experience. He has worked in the private investigation industry for 13+ years. Click here to learn more.
Arturo Guzman, a sole practitioner in San Marcos, Texas, had one employee, his only employee, Ashley Szymonek, who was with him for 10 years and had his total trust. And I do mean total. Guzman allowed Szymonek to be the firm's primary contact for his bankers, accountants, and other professions and she handled almost all of the email traffic in and out of the office. We tell all business clients of EXCALIBUR Legal Support - Private Investigation that they should NEVER place this kind of trust in one employee. It's a recipe for disaster but yet we've seen it time and time again.
This all started when Guzman was sued by a client over allegations that he improperly withheld funds. Guzman, trusty guy that he is, relied on Szymonek to contact his malpractice insurance carrier to get an attorney to represent him. Of course, unbeknownst to him, Szymonek had let his coverage lapsed and no attorney was retained although, according to court papers, she led him to believe he did have coverage and an attorney. Lo and behold Guzman gets disbarred in February of 2020 which was a secret to him for weeks until a fellow tenant in his building told him he was surprised to hear he'd been disbarred.
On April 29, 2020, Guzman was discovered in an office where all the doors locks had broken off keys inside them, bloated with vomit on his face. At the hospital the doctors suspected poisoning, likely from ingesting a large amount of antifreeze. He ended up in a coma for days. To complete the story Szymonek was arrested on a property theft charge, though never charged with the suspected poisoning.
Are you a small, medium or even large business owner? If you suspect you have an employee that you've given too much trust to who may be embezzling funds, contact us immediately. We've worked literally hundreds of these cases and there's not any way of skimming funds that we haven't seen. We've seen it all and know what to look for and where to look for it.
Lee Walters
President
EXCALIBUR Private Investigation
www.excaliburlegalsupport.com
352.509.8900; 719.208.4088; 505.208.6400; 803.806.7800
Serving all of Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and South Carolina
About the author. R. Lee Walters is a retired FBI Agent with over 24 years of federal law enforcement experience. He has worked in the private investigation industry for 13+ years. Click here to learn more.
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