Attorney charged with stealing $720K in escrow, plus $700K from secret sale of law-firm real estate
A New York attorney has been arrested on charges that he stole over $1.4 million from his law firm.
Steve Weinstock, 48, is accused of taking $720,000 from an escrow account that was supposed to be used to purchase New York City real estate and obtaining another $700,000 by secretly selling real estate that belonged to his Roslyn Heights firm, without paying off the existing $485,000 mortgage, reports the Roslyn News.
Newsday (sub. req.) also has a story.
A forged satisfaction of mortgage filed with the Nassau County clerk’s office allowed the sale of the law firm’s property to close in 2013, District Attorney Kathleen Rice said.
Weinstock initially made payments on the prior $485,000 mortgage after the closing, but sent a package to his now-former law partner in April notifying him of the thefts, the DA said. The partner then notified her office.
Weinstock is being held in lieu of $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash, on charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument and offering a false instrument for filing.
He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.
