'Colorful' attorney with 'massive client list' sentenced for $2M theft, impersonating his lawyer
A New Jersey lawyer was sentenced to 5½ years in prison Thursday for stealing more than $2 million from his clients and, after he was charged, impersonating his lawyer in a letter to a bank. (Image from Shutterstock)
A New Jersey lawyer was sentenced to 5½ years in prison Thursday for stealing more than $2 million from his clients and, after he was charged, impersonating his lawyer in a letter to a bank.
James R. Lisa, 68, of Jersey City, New Jersey, was sentenced following a September 2023 guilty plea in the case, according to a May 30 press release by the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. Lisa was disbarred by consent a month later.
The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Julien X. Neals of the District of New Jersey also required payment of $2.05 million in restitution and $550,000 to the IRS for Lisa’s failure to file tax returns from 2015 through 2022.
Law360, the Jersey Journal and Above the Law are among the publications with coverage.
The Jersey Journal described Lisa as “a colorful Jersey City attorney who represented accused killers, violent predators and even the ‘Newport Easter Bunny,’” a man playing the Easter Bunny at a mall accused of becoming involved in a brawl with an unhappy father, according to WABC. Lisa “was known to carry an active caseload that numbered in the hundreds,” the Jersey Journal reports.
The theft happened after a family hired Lisa to help repatriate millions of dollars that family members had placed in offshore bank accounts decades earlier. According to prosecutors, Lisa successfully obtained more than $6 million of the family’s money in 2015 but falsely told the family that he hadn’t recovered anything. Then in 2017, Lisa gave the family $4 million while falsely claiming that the other $2 million was beyond his control.
Lisa also falsely told the family in 2016 that he had resolved tax issues that required them to pay $3 million in taxes and penalties. Then in 2018, he falsely told the family that he had obtained an agreement with the IRS for them to pay only $2 million in taxes and penalties because only $4 million had been repatriated.
The scheme was discovered when the IRS audited one of the family members.
While he was on pretrial release, Lisa impersonated his lawyer in a letter to a bank that misrepresented the status of the case, prosecutors said. Lisa sent the letter while applying for a $22,000 loan.
According to the Jersey Journal, Lisa had successfully petitioned the court to release him before his guilty plea “to clear his massive client list.” Lisa appeared in court with a new client, which put Lisa back behind bars.
Lisa had pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, obstructing the IRS, failing to file an individual income tax return, and wire fraud while on pretrial release.
