Former attorney charged with embezzling from client
Wire Report
October 9, 2008
REDWOOD CITY — A 59-year-old man accused of taking more than $824,000 from a trust he managed and scamming elderly clients into a $100,000 loan pleaded not guilty in San Mateo County Superior Court Wednesday on charges of embezzlement and grand theft, a chief deputy district attorney said.
Edward Duff Hume, a former San Mateo County resident, is charged with five felony counts, including embezzlement, grand theft, commercial burglary and possession of a forged document, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
Hume faces up to seven years in state prison if convicted on the charges.
Hume had been an attorney in Redwood City since 1975 and represented a client, Frederick Helversen, in the Helversen Trust, according to Wagstaffe. When Helversen died in 2002, Hume became the trustee and allegedly began transferring what eventually amounted to $824,361 from the trust into his personal bank account, Wagstaffe said.
Hume is also accused of convincing two elderly clients to loan him a combined $100,000 in 2006 if he agreed to pay them back by the end of the year.
A portion of the money Hume allegedly took was used for landscaping at his house, according to Wagstaffe.
Hume did not pay back the loan and in August 2006 went to a Menlo Park bank with a forged document in an attempt to withdraw $6,000 from one of the victim's personal bank accounts, Wagstaffe said.
The bank denied Hume's request after contacting the victim.
Hume, who has since moved from San Mateo County, was arrested Friday at his home in Santa Inez and appeared in San Mateo County Superior Court Wednesday.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges and will return to court Oct. 15 for a superior court review conference and Oct. 21 for a preliminary hearing.
Hume, in custody on $500,000 bail, resigned from the State Bar of California in April and faces pending disciplinary proceedings. Wagstaffe said Hume knew he was under investigation when he resigned from the state bar.
Bay City News Service
