A number of Maurice Taggart's legal clients are upset with him for taking their money and not performing the work he had agreed to perform as their attorney, according to public records and interviews.
Taggart, who turned in his resignation as head of the Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency in September 2021 to pursue a newly minted legal career, was charged last week with 46 counts of forgery, 38 counts of theft of property and one count of abuse of office in connection with the alleged theft of $667,384 from the agency. A high school classmate of Taggart's who now lives in Houston was also indicted in the case.
Taggart's problems with his clients, however, were starting to surface well before last week's much-anticipated announcement regarding the investigation by State Police into missing money at the Urban Renewal Agency, a sister entity to Go Forward Pine Bluff.
As of Tuesday, five people had filed small claims complaints against Taggart in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County district courts.
The short narratives written by the plaintiffs were all similar, with each person claiming they had paid Taggart to handle some type of legal work that was never done.
One was titled "Breach of Contract" and went on to say that "Mr. Taggart was paid in full and refuse (sic) to provide services or return monies."
Another said "Refusal to refund unearned attorney fees and costs."
Four of the claims were filed in Pine Bluff District Court, and one was filed in Jefferson County District Court. The claims were all filed between late 2021 and earlier this year.
One of the plaintiffs, Ruby Ann Atkins of Fordyce, said her husband died in early January and she got a referral from a friend to contact Taggart for the necessary probate work.
"He took my money and didn't do anything," she said. "I am so upset."
Atkins, who works in Pine Bluff, filed her complaint on April 12, 2023 and made the claim against Taggart for $5,075, which includes the $3,500 she paid him, $75 in filing and service fees, and $1,500 in punitive damages.
Atkins said she had saved all the text messages from Taggart in which he had said he would return her money. "But he still never sent me any cash," she said.
Taggart declined to make a statement on the complaints.
"I was advised to give no comment at this time," he wrote in a text. "By giving no comment doesn't imply fault nor liability on my part."
Atkins said she had to get another attorney to handle her legal affairs but that she had told Taggart she was not dropping the matter.
"I told him I was going to report him to the bar," she said. "I let him know that."
Another individual, Rizelle Aaron, has made his complaints against Taggart known on social media.
Aaron, contacted Tuesday, said he had hired Taggart on April 3 to handle the purchase of some property Aaron had made through a state auction, paying $2,500 in cash for the legal work.
Aaron, who lives in Central Arkansas, said he knew of Taggart from years ago when Aaron was serving as first vice president of the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus, a division of the state Democratic Party.
"I met him years ago," Aaron said. "But we never had a personal relationship."
Aaron said he had drawn up the paperwork himself for the property sale but gave the work to Taggart because Taggart was from Pine Bluff and knew the area and also because Aaron knew Taggart was a new attorney and could likely use the business.
In the end, however, Taggart never filed the legal paperwork and never returned the $2,500, Aaron said.
"He took the cash with no intention of doing any work," Aaron said. "He knew he was going to get arrested" and would need the money for his legal defense.
Aaron recorded all of his conversations with Taggart and then, using a running narrative, replayed the conversations on Facebook. Since those conversations were aired, numerous others have contacted him to say they had had similar dealings with Taggart.
"I've lost count how many people have reached out saying 'What can we do? I am a victim, too,'" Aaron said. "I don't know the number of people but it's a heck of a lot more than five or 10."
The Facebook videos have apparently gotten the attention of the authorities. Aaron said he was contacted by an investigative agency – he wouldn't say which one – and asked not to make public any more of the conversations in case the exchanges can be used in another investigation or in court.
"The authorities did reach out," he said. "There was no demand that I not post but certainly a request – and a request that I've honored. If I can do something to help, I will."
Aaron said he believed from his conversation with the investigators that more may come out of the case against Taggart.
"I can say this, there is more likely than not another investigation that has stemmed from this incident – a subsequent investigation," Aaron said. "They're not done with Pine Bluff yet."
Aaron also said he felt that Taggart only dealt in cash because of a lawsuit filed against Taggart by Relyance Bank.
According to online documents, the bank has sued Taggart over a checking account that was overdrawn and a loan that Taggart defaulted on. In February 2022, Taggart opened a checking account at Relyance Bank with an initial deposit of $100. As of mid-March 2023, the account was overdrawn by close to $2,000, according to the bank.
In July 2022, Taggart had executed a loan from Relyance for about $45,600, agreeing to pay about $900 a month for 11 months and then agreeing to make a final payment of about $38,600. During the payback period, Relyance had access to Taggart's accounts receivables as collateral, according to the bank.
The bank in its lawsuit said Taggart failed to pay the debt, allowing the bank to declare the loan in default and immediately payable in full. In total, the bank claims Taggart owes it $2,090 for the checking account and $44,717 for the loan, which includes interest, late fees and legal fees, all of which Taggart agreed to pay if the loan was defaulted on.
Asked about the Relyance Bank loan and checking account, Taggart stated on Monday he had been working with the bank.
"I'm a private citizen and my private business, is just that," he wrote in a text. "If you must know, I've been in contact with their lawyer for some time now and we have reached an agreement which is amenable to all parties involved."
Mary Tipton Thalheimer, an attorney with the Rose Law Firm, is listed as representing Relyance Bank in the lawsuit against Taggart. She could not be reached for comment.
Aaron said he had also saved all of the texts and emails from Taggart and would eventually file a complaint with the Arkansas Judiciary's Committee on Professional Conduct, the entity that investigates complaints against lawyers and issues various levels of punishment up to recommendations of disbarment.
"I'm not in a rush," Aaron said. "There are more recent victims out there. I think this amounts to trying to get blood out of a turnip. It's probably a moot point."
The question that hasn't been answered, Aaron said, is whether Taggart had malpractice insurance, which could be used to reimburse people for their losses.
"The problem," Aaron said, "is that no one has been able to verify that he had that coverage."
An official with the Office of the Committee on Professional Conduct said complaints filed against lawyers are not made public until and unless the committee, after reviewing the complaints, makes a determination of punishment in the case. No such determinations have been made public regarding Taggart.
In a separate matter, Taggart recently lost a part-time job with the public defender office in Jefferson County. Gregg Parrish, executive director of the Arkansas Public Defender Commission, said last week, before charges were brought against Taggart, that Taggart "no longer works as a part-time public defender in Jefferson County." Parrish declined to discuss the matter further.