Va. State Bar investigating Hirschler Law firm for $1.4m Fraud

A Complaint was filed against Hirschler Law Firm Partner Franklin R. Cragle III for colluding with his client, Kitsa S. Panos, to defraud Lingerfelt Commonwealth Partners and her partners in a 1.4 million sales contract. Franklin Cragle advised his client, Kitsa Panos, to use a 40-year-old power of Attorney that had been revoked on October 25, 2000, to forge the signatures of her elderly relatives and partners.

Kitsa S. Panos and Franklin R. Cragle III

The Complaint was filed by Nickolas Spanos whose Trust owns a 10% share of a 52 acre land partnership, planned for medical-Office-Light industrial. He had been assisting his elderly relatives from previous acts of fraud by Kitsa Panos. Spanos learned of the $1.4 million fraud upon Franklin Cragle filing a Complaint for Partition  with the Henrico County Circuit Court (Case# CL22-4708) on August 28, 2022.

Franklin Cragle committed further acts of extrinsic fraud by intentionally failing to serve Diamiantis and Georgia Drizos, residents of Greece, in accordance with the Hague Service Convention. Franklin Cragle would have been able to obtain a default judgement without the Drizos having knowledge of the pending Partition Complaint. 

Diamiantis Drizos passed away one week after the Partition complaint was filed. Spanos notified the Court that Diamiantis Drizos has passed away and that Franklin Cragle was obligated to amend the Partition complaint to include service on his surviving widow and heirs. 

Spanos recognized that the Drizos' had revoked the power of attorney 26 years ago, which was signed by an affidavit at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, and questioned Franklin Cragle and Kitsa Panos on how they entered into a $1.4 million contract with Lingerfelt Commonwealth Partners. Cragle and Panos refused to answer him, so he filed a Petition to Intervene and Injunction, exposing the forging of Drizos' signatures on the sales contract.

Spanos informed the Henrico Circuit Court, Lingerfelt Commonwealth Partners, and Hirschler management of the Fraud by forgery. Lingerfelt revoked the sales contract and the earnest money deposit was returned.  Hirschler management took no disciplinary action against Franklin Cragle.