Daniel Susott

American physician and self-described "hanai" (adopted) brother of Lauryn Galindo whose 2010 and 2019 transfers of a Kauai apartment to her were both voided by federal courts as fraudulent, and who surrendered his California medical license in 2013 amid regulatory allegations.

Researched by Muhammad Abdullah Al Yasin · 14 September 2026

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Location: Hawaii (Honolulu and Kauai)
Country: United States
Profession: Physician licensed in Hawaii; a graduate of Punahou School and the John A. Burns School of Medicine, per Hawaii Reporter's 2014 profile of him
Relationship to Lauryn Galindo: Described in Ninth Circuit court filings as a close friend of Galindo's, and by Susott himself, quoted by Hawaii Reporter, as his "hanai" (adopted) sister
California license status: Voluntarily surrendered his California medical license in November 2013 after the Medical Board of California accused him of unprofessional conduct, gross negligence and dishonest acts tied to mass medical-marijuana clearances
Kauai property litigation outcome: Found by both a federal district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to have fraudulently transferred the same Princeville, Kauai apartment to Galindo twice, in 2010 and again in 2019
Family litigation: Named as defendant and trustee-respondent in 2011 California actions brought by his brother John Susott and nephew Evan Auld-Susott alleging elder financial abuse and seeking his removal as trustee of family trusts

Overview

Daniel Susott is an American physician best known, outside Hawaii medical and legal circles, for his connection to Lauryn Galindo, the adoption facilitator convicted in 2004 of Cambodian visa fraud and money laundering. Susott is not a party to that adoption case, but he twice transferred the same Kauai apartment to Galindo — in 2010 and again in 2019 — and a federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit each found both transfers to be fraudulent attempts to keep the property away from his own creditors (Ninth Circuit memorandum; U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii via CourtListener). Separately, Susott surrendered his California medical license in 2013 and was, as of a 2014 Hawaii news investigation, the subject of both a state regulatory inquiry and a family lawsuit alleging elder abuse.

The Kauai property transfers

Susott purchased an apartment at 3880 Wyllie Road in Princeville, Kauai on March 6, 2007, and it came to constitute substantially all of his personal assets (CourtListener). By 2010 he owed unpaid California state-court judgment debts to his brother, John Susott, and his nephew, Evan Auld-Susott, who by then held those judgments as trustee of family trusts. That year, Susott transferred the Princeville apartment to Galindo — described in the Ninth Circuit’s opinion as a close friend of his — by quitclaim deed for little or no consideration. A district court later found, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed on July 26, 2021, that the transfer was made “with the actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud” the creditor-plaintiffs, and that Galindo qualified as an “insider” relative to Susott (Ninth Circuit memorandum; CourtListener). Within days of a related adverse district court ruling, Susott deeded the same apartment to Galindo a second time in 2019, again without consideration; the Ninth Circuit affirmed on February 13, 2025 that this second transfer was likewise fraudulent, voided it, and imposed a constructive trust for the plaintiffs’ benefit. Hawaii Reporter separately quoted Susott himself describing Galindo as his “hanai,” or adopted, sister, and recounting that after her 2004 release from federal prison he bought her the Princeville condominium because, in his words, he had “ducked” while she “took the pie in the face” for what he called their “joint adoption program” (Hawaii Reporter).

Medical license and family litigation

Separately from the property case, the Medical Board of California accused Susott of unprofessional conduct, gross negligence and dishonest or corrupt acts after he cleared all 254 attendees at a 2010 medical-marijuana expo for cannabis use, reportedly spending only a few minutes per patient without a meaningful physical examination; Susott voluntarily surrendered his California license in November 2013 rather than contest the accusation, according to Hawaii Reporter’s October 2014 investigative article (Hawaii Reporter). The same article reported that a Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs RICO-unit investigator was separately reviewing why Susott had lost his California license. Around the same period, Susott’s brother John Susott sued him in California alleging elder financial abuse and conversion connected to their mother Kathryn C. Susott’s living trust, while a related probate petition sought Susott’s removal as trustee of family life-insurance trusts dating to 1988; a federal court record of the resulting 2012 jurisdictional dispute confirms the existence, parties and general subject matter of both actions before they were sent back to state court (Susott v. Susott, N.D. Cal., via vLex). Susott publicly denied the allegations, telling Hawaii Reporter they amounted to “a litany of lies,” and a subsequent guest-commentary letter to Hawaii Reporter from a supporter likewise described the claims as exaggerated and originating with an “estranged” sibling (Hawaii Reporter guest commentary).

What this profile does not claim

This profile does not treat the elder-abuse, physical-abuse or other family-lawsuit allegations against Susott as adjudicated facts. The only federal court record located for this profile that addressed that litigation resolved a jurisdictional removal-and-remand dispute, not the merits of the underlying claims, and Susott has denied them; they are stated here only as reported, pleaded allegations. By contrast, the Kauai property transfers are described as fraudulent because that specific finding was actually made on the merits, twice, by a district court and affirmed twice by the Ninth Circuit. This profile does not resolve a two-day discrepancy between sources on the exact date the family lawsuit was filed, does not know the outcome of the 2014-era Hawaii regulatory RICO-unit inquiry into Susott, and has no independent reporting on his activities after 2015 beyond his role as a losing party in the 2021 and 2025 Ninth Circuit rulings.

Timeline

2007-03-06: Susott purchases an apartment at 3880 Wyllie Road in Princeville, Kauai, which comes to constitute substantially all of his personal assets.
2010: Susott transfers the Princeville apartment to Lauryn Galindo by quitclaim deed for little or no consideration.
2011-08-02: A probate petition (later removed to federal court as No. C 12-597 SI) is filed seeking Susott's removal as trustee of 1988 irrevocable life insurance trusts and a compelled accounting.
2011-12: Susott's brother, John Susott, sues him in California alleging elder financial abuse, conversion and wrongful death connected to their mother Kathryn C. Susott's living trust.
2012-04-11: The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California remands both consolidated Susott family cases to Monterey County Superior Court, finding federal removal improper.
2013-11: Susott voluntarily surrenders his California medical license after Medical Board of California allegations tied to mass clearances for medical-marijuana use at a 2010 cannabis expo.
2014-10-30: Hawaii Reporter publishes an investigative article on a Hawaii regulatory RICO-unit inquiry into Susott and on the pending family lawsuit's abuse allegations; Susott calls the allegations "a litany of lies."
2019: Days after an adverse district court ruling on the 2010 transfer, Susott deeds the same Princeville apartment to Galindo a second time, again without consideration.
2021-07-26: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms that the 2010 transfer was made with fraudulent intent to hinder, delay or defraud Susott's judgment creditors.
2025-02-13: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms that the 2019 transfer was also fraudulent, voids it, and imposes a constructive trust for the creditor-plaintiffs' benefit.

What we could not verify

These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.

Sources disagree on the exact filing date of John Susott's 2011 elder-abuse lawsuit: Hawaii Reporter states it was filed "December 11, 2011," while a case-law database's summary of the resulting federal remand order states the same case (No. C 12-581 SI) was filed "December 9, 2011." This profile does not resolve the two-day discrepancy and states the month and year only in the timeline entry above where the two sources agree.
Hawaii Reporter's October 2014 article states that a Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs RICO-unit investigator was reviewing Susott's case at the time of writing. No later, dated source confirming how or whether that specific regulatory investigation concluded was found for this profile.
The elder-abuse and family-related allegations in this profile (including specific claims of physical or sexual abuse) are drawn from Hawaii Reporter's account of a civil complaint filed by Susott's brother, and from a district court record's description of that litigation as being between family trust beneficiaries and Susott as trustee/debtor. The federal remand order located for this profile resolved only jurisdiction, not the merits of those specific allegations, and Susott has publicly denied them. This profile presents them as reported and pleaded claims, not as adjudicated facts, in contrast to the separate Kauai property-transfer findings, which were adjudicated on the merits by both a district court and the Ninth Circuit.
No independent reporting from after 2015 on Susott's medical practice status, location or activities was found for this profile beyond the 2021 and 2025 Ninth Circuit rulings in the property case.

Sources

5 sources (3 tier 1, 1 tier 2, 1 tier 3), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.

This profile rests on the same federal appellate and district court records already used in FactsLedger's Lauryn Galindo profile (which describe Susott directly, as the transferor in both disputed property transfers), a further federal remand order in the Susotts' own family litigation (via a case-law database), and Hawaii Reporter's October 2014 investigative article and a January 2015 guest-commentary rebuttal of it. Wikipedia was not used as a source anywhere in this profile. The Hawaii Reporter investigative piece is treated as tier2 original local reporting; the guest-commentary rebuttal is treated as supporting-only commentary, since it defends Susott and was written in response to the earlier article rather than independently reported.

Evan Auld-Susott v. Lauryn Galindo, No. 19-15537 — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2021-07-26 · Tier 1 Supports: Susott's 2010 quitclaim transfer of the Princeville property to Galindo, the description of the two as close friends, and the court's affirmance that the transfer was fraudulent.
Auld-Susott v. Galindo — U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii (via CourtListener) · Tier 1 Supports: Susott's March 2007 purchase of the Princeville apartment, his status as debtor to the plaintiffs on unsatisfied California judgments, his mother Kathryn C. Susott's trust, the 2019 second transfer, and the court's finding that Galindo was an "insider" relative to Susott.
Susott v. Susott, Nos. C 12-581 SI and C 12-597 SI (N.D. Cal.) — U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (via vLex), 2012-04-11 · Tier 1 Supports: The existence, parties, filing dates and subject matter of the 2011 family litigation (an elder-financial-abuse suit by John Susott and a probate petition to remove Susott as trustee of 1988 irrevocable life insurance trusts), and the court's 2012 remand of both cases to state court.
Hawaii doctor accused of fraud, elderly and child abuse, under investigation by RICO; He calls allegations against him a 'litany of lies' — Hawaii Reporter, 2014-10-30 · Tier 2 Supports: Susott's professional background and education, the Medical Board of California's allegations and his November 2013 license surrender, the Hawaii RICO-unit inquiry, the family lawsuit's allegations and dollar figures, his "hanai" description of Galindo and his account of buying her a Princeville condo after her release from prison, and his denial of the allegations.
Dr. Susott: A kind and generous man — Hawaii Reporter (guest commentary), 2015-01-16 · Tier 3 Supports: Confirmation that Susott's supporters publicly disputed the 2014 article's allegations as exaggerated, characterizing the family lawsuit as originating with an "estranged" brother.

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