Facts

In October 2003, plaintiff Wayland Monson was appointed special administrator of the Estate of Valeria Steach. Plaintiff's attorney at probate, Patricia Mireles, held a $50,000 check in trust for plaintiff during administrative business. Mireles placed the check in the custody of her employee, defendant Endelicia Gonzales, and assumed Gonzales mailed the check to a construction company called R & R Maintenance. R & R Maintenance was supposed to make extensive repairs to a house that is the principal asset of the estate.

Gonzales took the check and gave it to defendant Henry Ng, who endorsed the check and deposited it in the bank account of a new corporation formed by Ng. The corporation was called R & R Construction Maintenance Service Inc. Mireles did not discover the embezzlement until April or May 2004 after investigating why the construction company was not paid.

Damages

The plaintiff claimed $150,000 lost profit from the sale of the property, and $50,000 wrongfully taken.

Injuries

Plaintiff claimed that due to the fraudulent deposit, plaintiff was unable to spend the money for the estate and the estate was forced to sell the house without improvements.

Result

The court decided to award plaintiff $325,000; $50,000 against defendants Ng and Gonzales, joint and severally liable; $250,000 punitive damages awarded against Ng; $25,000 punitive damages against Gonzales.

Other Information

FILING DATE: July 19, 2006.