Part 1. Hirschler Attorneys are Subject of FBI Investigations for Fraud and Exploitation in $6,000,000. Property

 Hirschler Law Firm Under Investigation for Federal Code Violations of Fraud and Exploitation of an Elderly and Disabled Person

March 28, 2023. Author-Brace Impact

Criminal complaints filed with the FBI have sparked investigations into the Hirschler law firm in Richmond, Virginia, for numerous federal code violations in an attempt to financially exploit an elderly and disabled person who owns 20% of a $6,000,000 property.

Hirschler attorneys Franklin R. Cragle, III, Partner,  and Alexander P. M. Boyd, Associate, are under investigation by the FBI for:

U.S. Code § 1341 - Frauds and swindles

U.S. Code § 1343 - Fraud by wire

U.S. Code § 875 - Interstate communications

U.S. Code § 21002 - Civil Financial Exploitation 

The criminal complaint filed with the FBI alleges that Hirschler attorneys assisted their clients in committing fraud and financial exploitation of their real estate partner in a Henrico County land partnership consisting of 52 acres of planned industrial land worth over $6,000,000.

The victim is listed as Georgia Drizos, 84, a resident of Greece. Georgia Drizos and her recently deceased husband, Diamiantis Drizos, owned a 20% share of 52 acres close to the RVA Airport, planned for light industrial by Henrico County.

 

The Drizos own the property with other family members who purchased the property in 1998 for $4000 per acre; the property had been zoned for agricultural use. As a result, the property significantly increased in value to approximately $135,000 per acre as development rocketed in Henrico County and was upgraded to light industrial by the Henrico County Planning Commission.

The criminal complaint states that the partners entered into a contract with Lingerfelt Commonwealth Partners in March 2022 for an undisclosed amount. The partners should have informed Diamiantis and Georgia Drizos of the contract agreement. In addition, the Drizos did not sign the real estate contract, and none of the partners had a power of attorney for Drizos.

Lingerfelt Commonwealth Partners conducted feasibility studies on the property and notified the partners that they would proceed with a sale. However, instead of informing the Drizos of the pending contract of sale, the partners retained Hirschler law firm to file a Complaint for  Partition of Allotment (Partition case) to have the Henrico County Circuit Court approve the sale of the 52 acres. 

Hirschler partner Franklin Cragle and Alexander Boyd filed the Partition case (CL22004708) on July 29, 2022, naming Diamiantis and Georgia Drizos, the U.S. Attorney for Virginia, and the U.S. Attorney General as defendants. 

The U.S. Attorney for Virginia and the U.S. Attorney General are listed as defendants because of an IRS tax lien encumbering the property; court pleadings state that the Hirschler law firm distributed IRS tax funds held in escrow to some of the partners. The IRS funds held in escrow were meant to pay the capital gains tax of the Drizos’ share of a partial land sale in 2000 and a Henrico County condemnation settlement in 2002. 

Hirschler committed tax fraud by violating the IRS FIRPTA Withholding Act by distributing the IRS funds to their clients instead of paying the IRS. Drizos filed their foreign resident tax returns with an approximate capital gains tax of $23,000. The IRS placed a tax lien on the property in 2002, which encumbered the property.

On August 4, 2022, Diamiantis Drizos passed away at his residence in Athens, Greece, leaving his 10% share to Georgia Drizos. Diamiantis Drizos and Georgia Drizos suffer from dementia and have caretakers 24 hours a day.

Hirschler  Attorneys Franklin Cragle and Alexander Boyd committed fraud on the court by intentionally failing to serve the Drizos through the mandatory Hague Service Process for foreign residents. Instead, they served the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which only applies to residents of the United States. Articles of the Hague service process state that the court documents are required to be translated into the foreign country's language and personally served by a municipality prosecutor at the defendant’s address. 

Hirschler’s attorneys intentionally did not have the pleadings translated and sent to the Hague authority in Greece for the personal service process. The Partition case would have been heard without the Drizos knowing there was a pending hearing for their land.

Hirschler schemed to obtain a default judgment on Drizos by defective service and have the court issue an order to grant the Partition suit. Georgia Drizos, suffering from dementia, would not know that her 20% share had been sold, and the partners would have divided the property sales proceeds amongst themselves with the assistance of the Hirschler attorneys.