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Letter to the editor

'We don't believe it's happening in America'

A lawyer has lost his job, but clients say they lost much more than that.

By Waveney Ann Moore, Times Staff Writer
Published February 13, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Shakawat Hossain says he had everything planned. He'd sell his business and use the money to repay loans, renovate his house and take his family on holiday to India. When they got back, he'd buy a gas station and convenience store. All developed according to plan - with one exception. The closing date for the purchase of the new business came and went, and with it the plan.

Hossain says disbarred lawyer Richard Joseph Da Fonte of Clearwater took more than $250,000 - about half the sum he gave the lawyer to hold in trust.

There may be other Da Fonte victims.

A married couple, Winnie and Thomas Yang of Clearwater, and Kenneth Yang, Thomas' brother who lives in Texas, lost about $400,000, said Jeff Albinson, a lawyer representing the Clearwater couple.

Albinson said the money, from a real estate transaction, was paid into Da Fonte's trust account after Da Fonte was disbarred in October. The Yangs are named in a Feb. 1 affidavit used for Da Fonte's arrest this month. They could not be reached for comment on this story.

Hossain says Da Fonte has ruined his chance to buy the Gulfport business that was supposed to be his family's financial security. He can't pay his bills and he's worried about being able to send his 18-year-old daughter to college this fall.

"It's like a storm and disaster on my life," he said during an interview in his St. Petersburg home.

"He is destroying us. From Jan. 12, we couldn't sleep at night."

"We don't believe it's happening in America," his wife, Sanjeeda "Nutan," said. "We trust him too much."

Hossain, 46, met Da Fonte in 2003, when members of the local Bangladeshi community recommended him to handle a lawsuit. In 2007, when Hossain decided to sell his business, he again turned to Da Fonte. According to Hossain, the lawyer said he would minimize Hossain's tax liability and would set up a trust with proceeds from the sale.

"I kept almost half a million dollars in his account," Hossain said.

"In the meantime, I pay back some loans from the trust account. I use it for my home renovation and I went to India."

When he got back in August, Hossain said he started withdrawing about $10,000 a month for living expenses. "Until Jan. 8, he was paying me that money," he said.

But what happened shortly after stunned Hossain and his wife.

An investigator from the State Attorney's Office showed up at their door.

"They told me no problems for you, but problems for your money," Hossain recalled.

* * *

Da Fonte, 50, had been disbarred in October and given 30 days to close his practice. According to court documents, he had been involved in two real estate transactions where money was missing. The Hossains' transaction was not mentioned.

On Feb. 2, Da Fonte turned himself in to the Pinellas County Jail on grand theft charges and was released in less than an hour on $50,000 bail.

Hossain recalled some odd interactions with the lawyer.

"He never told me that there's some incident happened and that he's no longer a lawyer. He was giving me a cashier's check, but no more from the trust account. But I never even thought that there was some problem," he said.

In September, Da Fonte drove his Lexus to St. Petersburg to drop off a check, Hossain said. Once, the lawyer told him to collect the monthly check at his Clearwater home. As the months passed, Hossain noticed that Da Fonte had begun driving a pickup truck.

After the investigator's visit, he called Da Fonte to demand his money, pleading for even a portion for his monthly expenses. He and his wife went to the lawyer's home.

"I explain to him. I cried to him, my daughter is going to university in the next few months. I need that money. My peaceful family, you bring disaster to my family," he said.

"I have two cars. I have my house payment. I have my life insurance payment, health insurance, my electric bill, phone bill."

He reminded the lawyer that he needed the money to buy his new business and asked for $50,000. Da Fonte gave him $4,500 in cash and one of his lawyers wrote a check for $5,000, Hossain said.

Asked whether Da Fonte will make restitution, Da Fonte's lawyer, Larry Sandefer, said: "Obviously, we're going to be doing our best to resolve all the concerns, including any money that somebody indicates is due them. It's still early in the process."

Da Fonte did not respond to a request for comment. His lawyer said his client was following his advice not to talk to the media.

* * *

Hossain and his wife arrived in the United States with their eldest daughter, Mariam Tasnim, now 18, and son, K.F.C. Sarwar, now 14, in 1998. They were granted political asylum. At the time, his wife was pregnant with twins. The girls, Juma and Asha, are now 9.

The family initially rented a small house and bought their first home in 2001. Hossain had been helping his father-in-law run a convenience store at 4703 22nd Ave. S. By 2003, he'd bought the business with a loan from an American friend.

"I was working all the time, almost 14 hours, 18 hours daily. I was managing the store by myself. I didn't have enough money to pay my American friend. My Bangladeshi friends, they gave me some money, maybe $50,000 to pay a down payment," he said.

Last year, when a buyer made repeated offers for the store, Hossain said he decided to cash in and buy a bigger business.

"I organized everything," he said. "I finalized to buy a business with my brother ... It was supposed to close Jan. 31, but it didn't happen, because he stole my money."

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this article. Waveney Ann Moore can be reached at 892-2283.

[Last modified February 12, 2008, 23:06:13]