Rhode Island personal injury lawyer admits to wire fraud, tax evasion

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said that a Rhode Island personal injury attorney admitted to running a Ponzi scheme where he defrauded clients by misappropriating settlement funds while also failing to pay taxes to conceal the ill-gotten money.

Peter P.D. Leach pled guilty to charges of wire fraud and tax evasion.

Cunha said that Leach admitted that he forged client signatures and deposited client settlement checks into his attorney account, and then used those funds to pay personal expenses and to repay earlier clients whose funds he had also embezzled.

Leach also repeatedly made false representations to clients about the status of their cases and told them that he would pay their bills with settlement funds he had received.

Cunha said that an investigation by the Rhode Island State Police Financial Crimes Unit and Internal Revenue Service found that Leach misappropriated over $500,000 in funds which led to over $250,000 in losses to clients.

Leach also admitted that between 2014 and 2019 he made multiple false statements to the IRS as well as transferred money between accounts to conceal his crimes, which resulted in him failing to pay over $250,000 in taxes.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 4.