In the following press release Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that two attorneys have been charged separately with looting their respective escrow accounts and failing to return money they had been holding for clients.District Attorney Brown said, “According to the charges, the defendants not only violated the trust that their clients placed in them but they let down the entire legal system which counts on members of the bar to conduct themselves in an ethical matter. Each of the attorneys has been disbarred, and each now faces serious criminal charges.”District Attorney Brown identified the defendants as Arelia Taveras, 46, presently of Bloomington , Minnesota , and another person in a non Mortgage/Real Estate related matter. Taveras, who is accused of stealing a total of $99,142 from four clients, is charged with three counts of third-degree grand larceny, second-degree forgery, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and scheme to d
In the following press release the Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that Joseph Levine, a 59-year-old recently disbarred attorney from Hewlett, has been arrested and charged with stealing more than $300,000 from two clients he was hired to represent in legal matters during the past year. Mr. Levine is facing felony counts of Grand Larceny in the Second and Third Degrees, and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree. “Lawyers are hired into positions of trust, often during a difficult time of someone’s life,” said Rice. “The betrayal of that trust is something my administration takes very seriously and will continue to investigate and prosecute aggressively.” Rice said that in December of 2006, the defendant counseled a Rockville Centre woman to settle a personal injury lawsuit that awarded his client $300,000. On December 27, 2006, Mr. Levine traveled to the Pennsylvania office of the i
Alexander Kaplan, Brooklyn, New York, was arrested on charges of participating in a multimillion-dollar sub-prime mortgage fraud scheme. The allegations against Kaplan relate to charges contained in a superseding Indictment, unsealed in Manhattan federal court, charging 26 other individuals with participating in a wide-ranging scheme to commit mortgage fraud by submitting to sub-prime lenders loan applications and supporting documents that contained false information and material omissions. The applications and documents included false information about …Read More...
In a press release Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced this morning the arrests of an attorney in connection with separate thefts of more than $900,000. Barry Chasky , 54, of Point Lookout, who has been charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, after allegedly embezzling nearly $900,000 from the escrow accounts of First American Title Insurance Company. Chasky will be arraigned later today in First District Court, Hempstead. Mr. Chasky and Mr. Corrado face maximum sentences of 15 and seven years in prison, respectively, if convicted of the charges.“Attorneys have more than just a professional responsibility to represent their clients’ interests,” said Rice. “These are professionals working in a position of trust, very often for clients who are not familiar with the law and may be going through an incredibly difficult episode in their lives. We will be very aggressive in going after professionals violating this trust and preying upon th
In the second case announced today by Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice it was announced that Joseph Corrado, 48, of Pleasantville, has also been charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, in connection with an alleged theft from the escrow account of a Garden City client who hired the defendant to negotiate a loan refinancing. Joseph Corrado was hired in January 2005 to negotiate a loan modification for a Garden City homeowner who had stopped paying his mortgage bill in 2002. The homeowner gave Mr. Corrado a total of $35,000.00 to hold in escrow during the negotiations. Bank One, the mortgagor of the property, foreclosed on the home and it was ultimately sold at auction July 19, 2006. Mr. Corrado is alleged to have pocketed the money, doing little more than filing a notice of appeal during the process. To date, Mr. Corrado has returned only $4,000, creating a financial loss of $31,000 to the client. Assistant District Attorney Vickie Curran, of the District Attorney&r
Mary Reagan, closing attorney, 39, Alpharetta, Georgia, was charged in a superseding indictment along with Adriene Newby-Allen, aka Cassandra Miller, 39, Alpharetta, Georgia; Brinson Allen , 38, Alpharetta, Georgia; and James Howard Bailey, III, 35, Houston, Texas, on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud and wire fraud in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme. A federal grand jury charged Reagan in a superseding indictment, filed March 13, 2007, …Read More...
Thomas M. Walsh, former attorney, Manchester, New Hampshire was issued four indictments. Walsh previously practiced as an attorney in Manchester, New Hampshire, but is presently suspended from the New Hampshire Bar. Two Forgery indictments charge that in January and April of 2004, Walsh presented to a private lender fraudulent mortgage documents along with another fraudulent document that purported to grant power of attorney to Walsh from a former client. These fraudulent mortgages caused liens to be recorded against the former client's real estate. Two indictments charge Walsh with Theft by Deception for unlawfully receiving $30,000.00 from the proceeds of the January fraudulent mortgage, and $23,750.00 from the April fraudulent mortgage. The investigation is ongoing. …Read More...
