PROVIDENCE, RI -- The Rhode Island Supreme Court's disciplinary counsel has filed ethics charges against Donald F. DeCiccio, a 65-year-old Johnston lawyer, for acting as an attorney paymaster in what has turned out to be an Internet scam in which 14 people, some from abroad, were defrauded of over $3.4 million.
Chief Disciplinary Counsel David D. Curtin alleges that DeCiccio committed various acts of professional misconduct and said Thursday that a hearing on the allegations would be scheduled soon.
According to Curtin, DeCiccio funneled $3,434,918 through his clients' account for someone who identified himself as commodities broker Rajat Ohri, took $68,734 as his fee, and then wired the remaining $3,365,978 to accounts in various nations including the Cook Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands.