Atlanta Disbarred Attorney Sentenced to Federal Prison for Embezzling Millions

Matthew Allen Dickason, a disbarred attorney once licensed to practice law in Georgia, has been sentenced to federal prison for embezzling over $3 million from his clients. The 48-year-old, formerly based in Atlanta, Georgia, now residing in Wellington, Ohio, used the funds for personal expenses and fabricated accounting records to conceal his theft.

U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan remarked, “Dickason engaged in a long-running and shameful practice of abusing the trust placed in him by his clients and will now serve a prison sentence as a result of his crimes.”

Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, stated, “As a lawyer, Dickason swore an oath to uphold the law and represent his clients with integrity. Instead, he violated their trust and defrauded innocent victims.”

Dickason’s actions jeopardized taxpayer-insured FHA mortgages and violated the trust placed in closing attorneys during real estate transactions in Georgia. Tyrone Hardy, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Southeast Region, emphasized the severity of Dickason’s conduct.

Edwin Bonano, Special Agent-in-Charge of FHFA-OIG’s Southeast Region, added, “As a mortgage industry insider and attorney, Dickason had a fiduciary duty to his clients and the banks funding the mortgage transactions, but instead he illegally siphoned funds for himself and his mortgage-closing company.”

Dickason’s scheme went undetected for years as he shuffled funds between clients to cover his tracks. He was sentenced to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $3,005,159.19. The case was investigated jointly by the FBI, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency-Office of Inspector General.