Oscar Cruz Parra was admitted to the California Bar 18th June 1974, but has since been disbarred. Oscar graduated from UC Berkeley SOL.
Lawyer Information
| Name | Oscar Cruz Parra |
|---|---|
| First Admitted | 18 June 1974 (49 years, 10 months ago) |
| Status | Disbarred |
| Bar Number | 59833 |
Contact
| Current Email | [email protected] |
|---|---|
| Phone Number | 626-577-5313 |
| Fax Number | 626-564-0307 |
Schools
| Law School | UC Berkeley SOL (Berkeley CA) |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate School | University of Southern Calif (Los Angeles CA) |
Address
| Current Address | Law Ofc Oscar C Parra, 300 N Lake Ave #320 Pasadena, CA 91101 |
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| Map |
History
| 13 January 2011 | Disbarred (13 years, 3 months ago) Disbarment 08-O-14736 |
|---|---|
| 22 November 2010 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (13 years, 5 months ago) Interim suspension after conviction 10-C-02868 |
| 1 September 2010 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (13 years, 8 months ago) Suspended, failed to pay fees |
| 21 July 2010 | Conviction record transmitted to State Bar Court 10-C-02868 (13 years, 9 months ago) |
| 12 June 2010 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (13 years, 10 months ago) Ordered inactive 08-O-14736 |
| 21 February 2010 | Not eligible to practice law in CA (14 years, 2 months ago) Ordered inactive 08-O-14736 |
| 14 October 2009 | Disciplinary charges filed in State Bar Court 09-O-11664 (14 years, 6 months ago) |
| 18 June 1974 | Admitted to the State Bar of California (49 years, 10 months ago) |
Discipline Summaries
February 1, 2011 Charged with embezzlement, a Pasadena lawyer faces prison and disbarment A Pasadena lawyer whose law license was lifted in February was arrested last month for embezzling more than $500,000 from the estates of four clients. OSCAR CRUZ PARRA [#59833], 67, was taken into custody by investigators from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation March 15 and charged with 10 felonies — five counts of embezzlement, four counts of preparing false documentary evidence and one count of perjury.The State Bar charged him in October with 13 counts of misconduct for misappropriating more than $243,000 from three estates. The charges pending before the State Bar Court.Parra is a probate lawyer, representing either family members or administrators of estates. According to Deputy District Attorney Susan Schwartz, he allegedly embezzled from the accounts of four estates and used the money for himself. At the same time, he allegedly filed false court papers that misrepresented the amounts remaining in the accounts, Schwartz said.She said Parra is accused of taking a total of $641,103, the amount of his bail.Parra could not be reached for comment; the telephone at his office was disconnected.In one of the matters before the bar, Parra was executor for four years for an estate for which he opened a bank account with a deposit of $164,684. In a final account filed with the court, he falsely said he had distributed more than $35,000 in estate-related expenses, including checks for about $14,000. In fact, he wrote checks to himself for just over $150,000, the bar charged.At one point, he told the court the value of the estate was $164,684, when he knew the account held only $70,259. Later he said the final balance was $133,276 when in fact there was only $3,355 in the account.In addition to the misappropriation, Parra filed a request for payment of $17,392 as his statutory compensation from the estate, and $713 as reimbursement for expenses. The court ordered those amounts to be paid and directed that the remaining assets be distributed to the beneficiaries after taxes were paid.During a hearing, Parra told the judge the funds were in his bank account when in fact they had been withdrawn. He eventually was suspended as executor by the court.The bar also charges Parra with misappropriating $80,369 from another estate that was to be held for two beneficiaries. Three days after depositing that amount in his client trust account, Parra began to write checks to himself and others; the account eventually was overdrawn by $1.50 and the two beneficiaries were never paid.In the third matter, the bar accuses Parra of misappropriating $14,457 from another estate “for his own use and purposes†over six months in 2004 and another $5,000 in 2008.The bar charges Parra with committing acts of moral turpitude by misappropriating clients’ money and failing to perform legal services competently, respond to client inquiries, maintain client funds in trust or cooperate with the bar’s investigation.He never responded to the charges, and bar prosecutor Hugh Radigan said he expects Parra to be disbarred. If convicted of the criminal charges, he faces up to 14 years in prison.January 13, 2011 OSCAR CRUZ PARRA [#59833], 68, of Pasadena was disbarred Jan. 13, 2011, and was ordered to make restitution and comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court. In a default proceeding, the State Bar Court found that Parra misappropriated approximately $251,333 of estate funds from clients and engaged in other misconduct over a period of about six years. Parra, a probate attorney, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to embezzling more than $500,000 from his clients’ estates last year and agreed to serve five years in state prison and pay $441,000 in restitution to five former clients. The bar had charged him earlier with 13 counts of misconduct for misappropriating more than $243,000 from three estates.In the first matter, the bar court found that Parra misappropriated more than $80,000 from a couple who were beneficiaries of an estate whose administrator was his client. Claiming he could not locate the couple, he had his client transfer the $80,000 to his trust account. The court had not ordered the transfer.The court later ordered that $212,000 in estate assets be distributed among eight individuals and entities; that was done with the exception of the $80,000 for the couple. Parra began taking the money himself and allowed the balance in his trust account to fall to a negative amount. Despite his claims that he continued to search for the couple, he did not do so and never distributed any funds to them.In a second matter, Parra was appointed executor of an estate and opened a bank account for the estate with a deposit of $164,684.93. In a final accounting filed with the court, he falsely said he had disbursed $35,152.05 for estate-related expenses and said he’d written checks for estate-related purposes totaling $14,311.45. In fact, the checks totaled $144,006 and Parra wrote them for his own use. He later took another $7,500, misappropriating $151,506. He made a series of misrepresentations to the court in order to conceal the misappropriation.He misappropriated almost $20,000 from a third estate, including funds to be used to pay taxes.The bar court found that Parra committed acts of moral turpitude, failed to account for client funds, maintain client funds in a trust account, perform legal services competently, communicate with clients or cooperate with the bar’s investigation, and he tried to mislead the court.In recommending Parra’s disbarment, bar court Judge Pat McElroy wrote, “The serious and unexplained nature of the misconduct, the lack of participation in these proceedings as well as the self-interest underlying (Parra’s) actions suggest that he is capable of future wrongdoing and raise concerns about his ability or willingness to comply with his ethical responsibilities to the public and to the State Bar.†|