St. Louis attorney Karl W. Dickhaus, on probation while he represented failed banker Shaun Hayes on bank fraud charges over the last two years, is no longer on probation following a Feb. 7 Missouri Supreme Court order.
In its brief order issued by Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Zel M. Fischer, Dickhaus' motion for order of successful completion of his probation, which began per the court's order in February 2015, was accepted. The high court also considered the positive response of the chief disciplinary counsel to Dickhaus' motion, found he had completed his probationary period and ordered his probation terminated, according to the order.
Dickhaus also was ordered to pay costs in the matter. Dickhaus, an attorney with the Gusdorf Law Firm in St. Louis, was admitted to the Missouri bar Oct. 4, 1996, according to his profile at The Missouri Bar's website.
Beginning in 2016, Dickhaus was counsel for Hayes following the former banker's arrest in April that year on a federal indictment over alleged bank fraud, misapplication of bank funds and making false entries in bank records. Hayes was accused of using funds from Excel Bank in Sedalia to bail out faltering investments after the housing bubble collapsed in 2006. Excel bank failed in fall 2012.
Last month Hayes pled guilty in U.S. District Court for Missouri's Eastern District to charges of defrauding Excel Bank of millions of dollars, according to a U.S. Justice Department news release. Hayes' sentencing is scheduled April 13.
As federal prosecutors pursued their case against Hayes, Dickhaus was on probation following his disbarment in March 2009 over allegations of professional misconduct, according to a Missouri Supreme Court order that month. Dickhaus was disbarred for neglecting four client matters and for failing to participate in the Missouri disciplinary process, according a March 2010 announcement by the state bar in Illinois, where he also was reciprocally disbarred.
Dickhaus was reinstated in Missouri and placed on three years probation following a Missouri Supreme Court Order in February 2015.