The legal career of Georgia attorney Sanjay Patel has ended in complete professional ruin, marked by a rare convergence of severe professional discipline and federal criminal conviction. In May 2025, the Supreme Court of Georgia ordered his disbarment for misappropriating client funds, a sanction amplified by his separate guilty pleas to COVID-19 EIDL fraud and money laundering.
Patel’s case serves as one of the most sobering warnings in recent history about the grave consequences when an attorney trades ethical duty for personal greed.
The Disbarment: Stealing from Escrow
Patel’s professional downfall began with a real estate transaction where he represented the lender. He received a large sum of money into his attorney escrow account, intended to pay off a client’s existing mortgages during a refinancing.
- The Conversion: The investigation revealed that Patel failed to pay off all the outstanding mortgages, instead misappropriating at least $235,565.62 of the client’s money from the escrow account for his personal use.
- The Silence: Patel failed to cooperate with the State Bar’s investigation, leading to the charges of financial theft being deemed admitted by default.
- The Verdict: The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that this intentional conversion of client funds, causing significant financial harm, left no choice but the ultimate penalty: disbarment. His readmission is contingent upon full restitution to his victims.
The Criminal Charges: Money Laundering and Pandemic Fraud
Adding gravity to the disbarment, Patel separately admitted to serious federal crimes, demonstrating a systemic disregard for financial law both inside and outside his law practice.
1. COVID-19 EIDL Fraud
In September 2024, Patel pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining nearly $300,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). He achieved this by providing false information to the Small Business Administration (SBA), misrepresenting his law firm’s employee count and gross revenues. He used these emergency taxpayer funds for unauthorized personal expenses, including gambling at casinos.
2. Money Laundering
Crucially, Patel also pleaded guilty to money laundering charges. He admitted to using his IOLTA (trust) account—the sacrosanct account meant to safeguard client funds—to facilitate and conceal a separate $250,000 investor fraud scheme. Using a client trust account for criminal money laundering is a profound abuse of the attorney’s fiduciary status and a direct attack on the integrity of the judicial system.
Conclusion: No Tolerance for Financial Deceit
The case of Sanjay Patel is a definitive statement from the legal and criminal justice systems. It proves that there is zero tolerance for attorneys who violate the trust placed in their hands.
His disbarment for misappropriating client escrow funds—a classic breach of the Rules of Professional Conduct—was entirely overshadowed by his concurrent admission to federal felonies involving taxpayer fraud and the criminal misuse of his own trust account. Patel’s downfall serves as a powerful and unambiguous warning: integrity is non-negotiable, and when an attorney chooses greed, the consequences will be both professional and criminal.