Disbarred SoCal attorney lied about having cancer, gambled away client funds, court finds

A Manhattan Beach attorney used $117,000 in client funds to fuel a gambling habit, but his “egregious acts of dishonesty” didn’t stop there, officials said. During his disciplinary trial, he told investigators he was dying of cancer — only for them to discover his oncologist didn’t really exist — according to court documents. On Friday, he was officially disbarred by the California Supreme Court.

Sergio Valdovinos Ramirez was found culpable on 19 counts of misconduct. The State Bar Court recommended in July 2023 that Valdovinos Ramirez be disbarred, and the court’s review department made it official in June. The California Supreme Court concurred and signed off on the disbarment in September, the State Bar of California announced Monday.

The attorney repeatedly failed to file claims for his clients in court, providing them with fake case numbers and court dates, the court found. Valdovinos Ramirez also wrote dozens of bad checks to clients who were expecting settlements, or refunds after firing him, even though his operating account had little to no money to draw from.

“This case is about an attorney’s egregious acts of dishonesty that occurred in his practice and continued through his disciplinary trial,” the State Bar Court Review Department wrote in a June opinion.

During the initial disciplinary hearing into Valdovinos Ramirez’s conduct, he claimed that a terminal cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment at City of Hope had caused delays in work for his former clients. But investigators found that the doctor he claimed was treating him at the renowned cancer research center did not exist, and Valdovinos Ramirez never produced documentation of his medical condition to the court.

Allegations against Valdovinos Ramirez included moral turpitude for misappropriation, misrepresentation, bounced checks, with additional charges for unreturned fees and not updating one client on important case events.

Often draining his operating account down to pennies, the former attorney repeatedly moved client funds from his business account to his personal checking account to buy tens of thousands of dollars in gambling chips at casinos, along with Lyft rides, utility payments, and purchases at restaurants and gas stations, officials said. Attorneys are required to hold client fees in operating accounts or trusts until they complete the work promised, at risk of discipline or disbarment.

In one conservatorship case, Valdovinos Ramirez collected almost $74,000 in advance fees from a client, which he misappropriated entirely, and lied about court dates and proceedings until he was fired and asked to return the money, according to court documents. “Although he had done no work on the case, incurred no costs, and did not obtain any bonds, Valdovinos’s [client trust account] balance on July 29 was 37 cents,” wrote the State Bar Court review department.

Valdovinos Ramirez asked for a review of his case with the department, which in June agreed with the court’s earlier ruling and recommended his disbarment to the California Supreme Court. He claimed that the initial judge was biased against him, and that when she asked if his gambling addiction would be used as an argument in his defense, she embarrassed him.

The review department said it wasn’t unreasonable that the judge assumed he had a gambling addiction, as Valdovinos Ramirez had spent $886,535 on gambling between February 2021 and February 2023, and found that the hearing judge’s assumption was reasonable.

“Mr. Valdovinos Ramirez cheated his clients out of their funds, in part, to feed his gambling habit. He then showed no remorse and lied about a life-threatening illness to avoid taking responsibility for his misconduct,” Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said in Monday’s news release. “Disbarment is entirely appropriate in this case.”

Valdovinos Ramirez was found culpable for all 19 ethical violations and ordered to pay restitution, plus 10% interest per year, to five of his former clients, along with $5,000 in monetary sanctions.