FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 10, 2021
New Jersey Attorney Indicted for Allegedly Stealing Approximately $240,000 From Client He Represented in the Sale of Her Property
Defendant Allegedly Withheld Down Payment in Real Estate Transaction,
Transferred Money to His Personal Bank Account
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a New Jersey attorney has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with grand larceny for allegedly stealing approximately $239,500 in funds he received, and was not entitled to, while representing a client in the sale of her deceased sister’s estate.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant allegedly abused his power and betrayed his client to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars to which he was not entitled and has not returned despite the victim’s repeated attempts to contact him. We will now seek to hold him accountable for this flagrant and brazen theft.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Antoni Moszczynski, 67, of Madison, New Jersey, who had an office in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today in front of Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which he is charged with second-degree grand larceny. He was released without bail and ordered to return to court on June 29, 2021.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, in December 2019, the defendant, an attorney who is currently licensed to practice law in New York, represented the victim in the sale of her property at 584 Leonard Street. The victim, who was appointed executrix of her deceased sister’s estate, entered contract of sale for $2.395 million.
It is alleged that on December 2, 2019, the defendant received a wired down payment from the buyer into his escrow account in the amount of $239,500. Furthermore, it is alleged that, within a week, the defendant transferred $210,000 into his personal bank account with Wells Fargo, and within three months had withdrawn or spent the remainder of the down payment.
The victim retained a different attorney to represent the estate at the closing, which took place on June 30, 2020. The defendant was allegedly not present at the closing and has not answered calls from the victim or her attorney. To date, the defendant has not given the victim or the estate the down payment he allegedly stole.
If you believe that you or someone you know is the victim of fraud or theft perpetrated by the defendant, please call the District Attorney’s Action Center at (718) 250-2340.
This case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Sara Walshe of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Laura Neubauer, Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of the Investigations Division.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt