Supreme Court yanks law license of Tampa attorney who vanished

The Florida Supreme Court has suspended a Tampa attorney from practicing law after the Florida Bar complained that he appears to have abandoned his clients.

The high court issued an order late Wednesday ordering José Angel Toledo to stop representing clients, to notify them of his suspension, and to refrain from touching their money. The court also ordered Toledo to comply with a subpoena from the Florida Bar seeking financial records.

Toledo’s whereabouts remain unclear. Court records indicate he was in Miami during late September, weeks after a Florida Bar investigator found his Tampa law office abandoned with his clients’ files still inside.

RELATED: Florida Bar moves to suspend lawyer facing 31 complaints. But no one can find him.

Toledo is the subject of 31 disciplinary complaints filed with the Bar by his clients and one medical provider, according to a petition the Bar filed Friday with the Supreme Court. He “appears to be causing great public harm,” the petition states.

The complaints say Toledo stopped responding to client inquiries and failed to distribute funds in legal settlements.

Toledo, 45, is the ex-husband of state representative Jackie Toledo. She filed for divorce in 2017 and a judge later ordered José Toledo to pay her $20,000 a month in family support. But he fell behind on those payments and now owes his ex-wife more than $100,000, according to court records. The divorce was finalized Oct. 8, with Jackie Toledo awarded custody of their four children.

An arrest warrant has been issued in Tampa for José Toledo for contempt of court stemming from his failure to pay family support. His ex-wife’s lawyers said in a court document filed in August that they believe he may have left the country.

Toledo advertises on Spanish-language TV and on billboards as “Su Abogado Hispano,” your hispanic lawyer.