N.Y. real estate lawyer who stole millions from clients disbarred

The setting up exterior of the New York County Supreme Court is viewed in Manhattan. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

(Reuters) – Lawyer regulators in New York have disbarred Mitchell Kossoff immediately after the serious estate lawyer pleaded guilty in December to felony charges about his theft of millions of bucks in customer funds.

Kossoff, the owner of the now-defunct Kossoff PLLC law company, pleaded guilty in New York County Supreme Court to fees of grand larceny in the initially, next and third levels, and scheming to defraud in the very first degree.

Prosecutors said Kossoff misappropriated a lot more than $14.6 million from at the very least 35 men and women and corporations, which he admitted to in his plea agreement, New York’s Appellate Division, Very first Office stated in its Thursday purchase disbarring Kossoff.

Walter Mack, Kossoff’s felony defense lawyer, claimed in an e-mail the official disbarment was anticipated as a outcome of his client’s responsible plea, and Kossoff had “tendered his resignation from the bar” a calendar year ago.

The New York appellate court claimed Kossoff did not reply to the court’s attorney grievance committee’s motion to disbar him.

Kossoff, a fixture of the New York real estate marketplace, commenced transferring cash from his clients’ accounts in December 2017, employing the dollars to guidance one more family company and individual fees, prosecutors stated. That incorporated spending an common of $16,000 regular on private credit rating card costs and $19,000 a thirty day period to lease a Manhattan luxury condominium.

Prosecutors have explained Kossoff, 68, will be sentenced in April and could provide a jail time period of 4-1/2 to 13-1/2 yrs. A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney did not immediately react to a ask for for remark.

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