Local Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Larceny and Fraud

(The following information was first published on Law 360) Michael Lippman, age 71 of Scarsdale pled guilty on Monday to larceny and fraud charges for stealing almost $1.5 million from 13 clients he was representing. The funds were intended for real estate transfers and estate planning.

Lippman, who was previously disbarred, was charge with grand larceny, tax fraud and scheme to defraud by the Acting Westchester County District Attorney James McCarty.

This was not Lippman's first transgression. While working as a lawyer for the Bronx County Public Administrator, Lippman stole $150,000 from two estates and pled guilty to charges in September 2014.

Following Monday's guilty plea, Lippman remains out on bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June and faces a maximum term of 15 years in state prison.

According to prosecutors, Lippman stole nearly $1.5 million from clients between January 2010 and September 2015. In one instance, prosecutors alleged, Lippman stole $431,000 in funds that were intended to go toward the purchase of a property. In another instance, he allegedly stole nearly $160,000 intended to pay off a client's mortgage and forestall a foreclosure action.

Prosecutors also accused Lippman of failing to pay $50,000 in taxes to New York state.

At the time the charges were filed in September 2014, then-District Attorney Janet DiFiore said in a statement, "As alleged in the complaint, the defendant took advantage of people who turned to him for his legal expertise and guidance only to become victims of his greed."

"He violated the oath he took as an attorney when he used client funds and properties entrusted to him and used them for his own personal use," DiFiore added.

According to Lippman's website, he worked as counsel to the Bronx public administrator for more than 25 years, helping oversee approximately 1,000 estates of people who died without a valid will. He is a 1969 graduate of Brooklyn Law School. Lippman is represented by Murray Richman.