TALLAHASSEE — Fort Lauderdale attorney Kurt Ellis Bosshardt was placed on suspension March 30, barring him from practicing law for 90 days.
The decision, outlined in the order handed down by the Florida Supreme Court, came as the result of an investigation into the attorney’s financial practices revealed he had committed acts of misconduct.
The attorney admitted in a deposition that he had previously used bank accounts tied to his business to facilitate the purchase and sales of “luxury marine vessels," according to the 25-page consent judgment released by the Supreme Court. Bosshardt allegedly operated a business registered as KBA Properties LLC, doing business as Bosshardt Luxury Collection, in which he acted as a yacht broker.
Yacht funds totaling between $900,0000 and $8 million were deposited into the attorney’s escrow account and then moved to other business savings accounts held by Bosshardt, the consent judgment states. The attorney allegedly would gain the interest from the large sums sitting in his accounts before completing the transactions. Upon investigation by the Florida Bar’s chief auditor, that the attorney was found to have moved funds in five client matters without their approval to benefit from the interest earned, according to court documents.
The Florida Bar suspended Bosshardt from practice for 90 days and ordered him to pay not only the Florida Bar’s costs for the disciplinary proceedings but also restitution in the amount of $4,056.42 to the Florida Bar Foundation.
The Broward County attorney is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law. He has been a member of the Florida Bar since his admission in October 1986 and had no prior record of public discipline in the past 10 years, according to the bar. As of publication, the attorney’s bar membership profile states that he is retired.