A Quad City attorney denies he stole thousands of dollars in an East Moline development deal.
Attorney Frank Coyle is named in a lawsuit filed by River Eagle Group, claiming Coyle "stole $273,000 by writing checks to himself" and transferring funds from River Eagle's bank accounts in 2011 when he worked as the group's lawyer.
"There was a lot of money being spent and frequently there was no money in the bank, so I would write a check for something and reimburse it. Everybody knew what was being spent," Coyle said in an interview with WQAD.
River Eagle group is trying to develop the old site of the Case Plant in East Moline. It includes ex-State Sen. Mike Jacobs, millionaire Dan Murphy, and Mike Vandeheede.
Coyle was part of the group until he left in 2012. He said many of the checks to himself were for legal fees he earned.
"This was a multi-million dollar project. The purchase itself took months and months of legal work," Coyle said.
"It certainly wasn't theft. None of that. The money did not benefit me, other than legal fees which I earned", he said.
However, when shown photocopies of checks and debit transactions included in the lawsuit, Coyle said he couldn't remember signing the checks or what they paid for. He also said he couldn't recall the debit transactions at Quad City Bank and Trust, one for $5,000, $11,000, and $80,000.
"I have no recollection of debit withdrawals. I don't remember," he said.
He says he is having serious memory issues, and suffers from a serious medical condition due to years of getting hit in the head.
"Football, rugby, the Marine Corps. Bar room brawls. I just got hit a lot," he said.
The lawsuit also names three of the partners at his former law firm. William Stengel, Kathleen Bailey, and Donovan Robertson. The suit claiming that the partners were "liable for Coyle's actions."
"I don't care if they sue me or not. They can make all the false allegations they want. I'm a big kid, but to name Bill, Kathleen, or Donovan, they had nothing to do with this and they know that," Coyle said.
River Eagle is being sued by its former developer for millions of dollars, the suit filed by a Chicago law firm last month.
"I don't think it's coincidental that this came on the heels of them being sued for millions," Coyle said.
And mentioned the fact that one of the ex-partners, Mike Vandeheede, just finished serving 11 months in federal prison.
"Look who's calling me a crook," he said.
Coyle called the lawsuit "outlandish."
"It's an old axiom, you should not represent people you don't get along with."
The suit is asking for damages in the amount of at least $273,738, plus punitive damages, attorneys' fees and court costs.