Even after they were dead, attorney kept stealing from his clients, cops say

A Venice attorney has been arrested on fraud charges after a joint investigation by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed he had embezzled more than $700,000 from at least four of his clients’ trust accounts — including after their deaths.

On Tuesday, Adam Russell Miller was arrested by detectives with the sheriff’s office’s Criminal Investigation Section and FBI agents who had a warrant for his arrest. Law enforcement also executed search warrants at his home and office.

Miller was charged with one count of exploitation of the elderly over $50,000, two counts of scheme to defraud over $50,000 and one count of scheme to defraud between $20,000 and $40,000.

He is currently being held at the Sarasota County jail on bonds totaling $1,257,500, but he is currently not allow to post bond until a Nebbia hearing can be held during which Miller will have to prove that any money that he would use for bond would not come from illegitimate sources.

On Aug. 5, 2013, an Englewood couple retained Miller as the trustee of their their trust account, according to an arrest report. At the time the couple only had one bank account, but detectives would later discover a total of six accounts in the couple’s names with Miller listed as the trustee and has having power of attorney.

After the wife’s death on July 14, 2014, the investigation revealed Miller began writing large-summed checks to himself or his practice, the Law Office of Adam Miller, 218 Harbor Drive South, Venice. Twice he also wired large sums of money from the couple’s account into his own, according to the report.

Records revealed that Miller allegedly took more than $130,000 from the couple’s account before the death of the husband on March 29, 2015. Miller had begun to open up additional accounts in the name of the couple’s trust, even opening up one after they were both dead.

Miller sold the couple’s home in November 2015 and deposited the proceeds from the sale into one of the accounts he had set up.

The investigation determined that Miller stole a total of more than $400,000 of the couple’s money, according to his arrest report. The couple’s beneficiaries have reportedly only received $25,500 since their deaths.

The investigation revealed two additional victims.

Miller was the listed personal representative on the trust account for a Venice man who died on Feb. 14, 2015. Detectives say Miller took more than $37,000 and never paid out anything to the man’s beneficiaries.

A Venice woman who died on Aug. 9, 2013 was also victimized by Miller, according to detectives.

Miller took about $336,000 from the woman’s trust account and never paid out any of her beneficiaries. The money taken include the proceeds from the sale of the woman’s home, as well.

The investigation remains ongoing, according to the sheriff’s office, and Miller potentially faces additional charges.

This story was originally published June 7, 2017 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Even after they were dead, attorney kept stealing from his clients, cops say."