The former owner of an Atlanta real estate law firm pleaded guilty to federal charges arising from a scheme to defraud the firm’s clients.
According to U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court, Matthew Allen Dickason was an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Georgia and was the owner of Matthew A. Dickason, P.C., a law firm located in Atlanta. The firm specialized in real estate law and was responsible for overseeing hundreds of real estate sales transactions totaling tens of millions of dollars.
Dickason accepted funds on behalf of clients seeking to purchase real estate. He was not permitted to use his clients’ money to pay his own debts and expenses. Nevertheless, Dickason misappropriated millions of dollars belonging to his clients, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. The majority of the misappropriated funds were used to pay his firm’s operating expenses. After misappropriating client funds, he used new client funds to complete prior real estate transactions.
To hide his fraud, Dickason caused fabricated information to be uploaded into his law firm’s accounting system to make it appear the firm was paying off a seller’s mortgage when, in fact, Dickason was misappropriating client funds for his own use.
Dickason continued to misappropriate client funds until it became impossible to continue. By that point, victims had suffered millions of dollars in losses.
Dickason, 47, formerly of Atlanta and now living in Wellington, Ohio, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 17, 2024 before U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency-Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell Phillips is prosecuting the case.