‘Average Joe’ attorney Menard accused of running Ponzi scheme

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A new set of felony charges filed against the Milwaukee attorney Robert Menard allege he was running a Ponzi scheme and accuse him of stealing about $250,000 from his clients. Menard, who billed himself as a worker’s compensation lawyer for the “Average Joe,” is already faced with two other lawsuits alleging he had stolen hundreds of thousands from clients and his former business partner.

Menard was charged with six new counts of felony theft, embezzlement and forgery on Wednesday. The 19-page criminal complaint says Menard continued to steal worker’s compensation and personal-injury settlements from his clients from January 2016 through at least March 2019. The previous lawsuit, filed in July, charged him with the theft of $700,000 from clients from August 2013 up until January 2016.

In both cases, investigators say Menard was depositing settlement money into a business checking account, rather than a separate trust fund, and then paying himself. He’d then use other clients’ funds to pay back those he owed, according to the complaints.

The lawsuit filed this week lists details of Menard’s alleged theft of four clients’ settlement funds. Among the alleged victims was a detective at the Milwaukee Police Department. The allegations accuse Menard of lying about how much money defendants should receive and told clients he paid expenses but kept the money instead. In the detective’s case, Menard was supposed to reimburse the city of Milwaukee more than $124,000 for his medical payments and lost work time, but he never did.

The complaint alleges Menard would also write false settlement breakdowns and even forged client signatures on claims forms. In one instance, an investigator said Menard also had fraudulently notarized a claim by his office manager. He owes the defendants about $250,000, according to the complaint.

The investigator doesn’t believe the clients will ever receive their money, writing in the complaint: “When defendant Menard’s law practice ends, there will be no new client funds to pay back the settlement funds that defendant Menard stole from old clients.”

Accounting records show Menard has lacked the money needed to pay back clients from as far back as 2014. A copy of the balance sheet included in the criminal complaint showed that by December 2014, the law firm’s total cash balance was about $15,500, a fraction of the more than $418,000 it owed clients. The balance sheet included handwritten notes next to several accounts indicating Menard owed the firm money. “Money advanced to Bob” was written next to an account that showed $996,970 worth of settlements due to clients. Investigators say the records of the growth seen in the advanced money and the settlements owed to clients’ accounts suggest there was a Ponzi scheme.

This is the latest sign of trouble for Menard. The Office of Lawyer Regulation is threatening to disbar him, and a lawsuit filed by his former business partner, Alan Derzon, is ongoing. Menard previously settled a lawsuit brought by his uncle, Philip Menard, accusing him of embezzling a $500,000 insurance settlement and using the cash to pay other clients. Follow @WLJReporter