Peoria Standard

A Tazewell County public guardian has had his law license suspended after being accused of tapping clients' funds for his own use. 

Matthew Stropes' law license was suspended for at least two years by the Supreme Court Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), the Pekin Daily Times reported. 

Accusations state Stropes withdrew over $32,000 from three clients' bank accounts, according to the commission. Stropes had been overseeing the finances of these three clients and the funds were withdrawn in increments between 2013 and 2018. 

Stropes was an attorney in Pekin for 10 years from 2009 to 2019 until the complaint was filed against him approximately a year ago. He was a public guardian, appointed by the court for adults who need help managing their estates and finances. These clients include the mentally ill, the elderly, and the developmentally disabled. 

While Stropes was authorized to perform work for the three clients, he had no authorization to withdraw payments for himself from their accounts, the commission said.

One of Stropes' clients was the victim of $20,955.21 in losses. Stropes has been accused of writing checks to himself from the victim's account at the former Herget Bank in Pekin on three occasions. Approximately 14 months after this victim died, Stropes transferred money from the victim's account to his own in the amount of $3,000 in May 2018. 

Stropes has also been accused of transferring money from two other victims' accounts at Morton Community Bank, the commission said. 

Tazewell County State’s Attorney Stu Umholtz didn't comment on whether or not Stropes would be facing criminal charges. 

“As part of our review, we will consider the ARDC investigation,” Umholtz said.