OLR alleges attorney misappropriated $450K from employer

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A Hartland attorney could face revocation of his license for allegedly misappropriating his employer’s money to benefit a company he formed for his son.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation complaint filed July 17 alleges that Matthew MacLean, while he was general counsel and chief compliance officer for Red Granite Advisors LLC and Ziegler Lotsoff Capital Management LLC, channeled more than $450,000 belonging to both firms to himself and another company between March 2006 and September 2013.

MacLean hid that misconduct by falsely identifying checks in Red Granite and Ziegler’s record as being payable to legitimate vendors, opening a lockbox and dummy account, and creating fraudulent invoices, according to the complaint.

MacLean, according to the OLR, also engaged in a conflict of interest when he opened a limited liability company, BrickStix LLC, to commercialize LEGO decals his son had designed. MacLean also made himself general counsel for the company. He also failed to keep personal finances separate from those of BrickStix and his employer and did not consult with other members of the company about its finances, the OLR alleges.

In fact, according to the complaint, more than $5,000 of the more than $450,000 misappropriated from Ziegler and Red Granite was used to pay BrickStix expenses.

The OLR also alleges that MacLean gave Ziegler president Scott Roberts misleading information about BrickStix, persuading him to pay $50,000 for part ownership in the company.

MacLean, reached Wednesday, had no comment.

The OLR is asking the Supreme Court to revoke MacLean’s license and for the court to order him to pay more than $52,000 in restitution to his former employer, to whom he has already paid more than $400,000, according to the complaint.

He has been admitted to practice law in Wisconsin since 1988. According to the OLR and State Bar websites, he has no history of professional discipline. Follow @erikastrebel