TAMPA, Fla. -- A well-known Tampa lawyer is facing a law license suspension after client accusations that he took their settlement checks.
EN ESPAÑOL
The Florida Bar is asking the state Supreme Court to suspend the Jose Toledo’s license to practice law if he fails to respond to its inquiry into eight complaints against him by Oct. 16.
RELATED: Tampa attorney accused of withholding settlement money from teen hit by van
Taking Action Reporter Jackie Callaway spoke with Toledo in July and he promised to pay his clients soon, but Toledo hasn’t responded to calls from ABC Action News since then.
ABC Action News spoke with Monica Vazquez, and four other Toledo clients who want to know what happened to their money. They all accuse Toledo of shutting down his practice and taking their settlement money.
“He kept giving me different excuses,” said Vazquez. “When he had said to go to his office to pick up the check, the office was closed.”
Vazquez showed Taking Action Reporter Jackie Callaway a photocopy of a $7,500 insurance settlement check sent to Toledo for her case.
The check is dated March 14, 2019, but Vazquez said Toledo never gave her any money.
Eight former clients recently filed complaints with the Florida Bar about Toledo including Amanda Dieppa, who told ABC Action News, “I have been waiting two years for nothing.”
Dieppa, who was seriously injured after being hit by a van in 2017 when she was 16-years-old, said Toledo owes her $30,000 dollars in settlement money.
The request to suspend Toledo’s law license isn’t the only legal trouble he faces.
Deputies in Montgomery County in Tennessee arrested Toledo August 31 on a domestic assault charge. He was released on $10,000 bond.
ABC Action News found an eviction notice hanging on Toledo’s office door – at the same time his office sign still hangs outside.
It reads, “Your Hispanic attorney” – marketing to an entire community some say he’s now let down.
Vazquez said she is among them.
Vazquez said, “It is upsetting because I’m not the only one in this position.”
