NEW YORK (AP) - A lawyer who became famous for trying to win compensation for Holocaust victims has been stripped of his license to practice law in New York.

The state Supreme Court's Appellate Division in Manhattan said Dec. 11 that Edward Fagan was disbarred because he failed to pay $350,000 in fines and costs ordered by a federal judge. He also had a history of court sanctions.

The court said the fines and their subsequent disciplinary charges stemmed from a 2004 federal lawsuit that Fagan filed in Manhattan for a nonexistent Holocaust group called AHVRAM.

Fagan, who's 55, represented himself in the hearing. He had practiced law in New York since 1988.

Several office telephone numbers listed for Fagan were disconnected and his home telephone number could not be found.