{"id":11811,"date":"2015-05-07T12:20:15","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T19:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11811"},"modified":"2015-05-07T12:20:15","modified_gmt":"2015-05-07T19:20:15","slug":"feds-san-antonio-law-firm-employee-stole-from-attorneys-and-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11811","title":{"rendered":"Feds: San Antonio Law Firm Employee Stole From Attorneys and Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"courtroom_02\"<\/a>SAN ANTONIO<\/strong>\u00a0 — A law firm employee,\u00a0Elpidio “Pete” Gongora, <\/strong>who allegedly\u00a0stole money from clients, evaded paying more than $1 million in taxes, and hid assets from a bankruptcy court, was indicted in federal court, officials said.<\/p>\n

A 16-count indictment charges 46\u2013year-old Gongora with five counts of mail fraud, five counts of bankruptcy fraud, one count of tax evasion and five counts of aggravated identity theft, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

If convicted, Gongora is facing more than 30 years in prison, officials stated.<\/p>\n

According to the indictment, from 2009 through 2014, Gongora operated the law offices of several personal injury attorneys in the city of San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico.<\/p>\n

The indictment alleges that Gongora stole money from these attorneys and their clients when he failed to pay money owed to clients under settlement agreements or pay obligations for medical treatment and physical therapy.<\/p>\n

Also the indictment alleges that Gongora and his co-actors illegally endorsed personal injury settlement checks and would hide from the attorneys his failure to pay the clients their full case settlement proceeds.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Gongora and his wife filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy<\/strong> in the Western District of Texas.<\/p>\n

The indictment alleges that Gongora failed to disclose to the Bankruptcy Trustee that he owned personal assets that included:<\/p>\n