NY Lawyer Gets Year In Jail for Stealing $1M+ From Clients' Real Estate Escrow Funds

In White Plains, New York, The Joutnal News recently reported:

• The more than $1 million that lawyer Eric Kellerman stole from his clients' real estate escrow funds went to pay off gambling debts and home renovations and to stake a harness racing stable. But none of that was for Eric Kellerman. Kellerman, 46, of Yonkers, gave the money to his twin brother, Paul, and two Scarsdale sisters who he said told him God wanted him to give them the money. Paul Kellerman has been sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The two sisters, Ann and Mary Martin, have not been charged.

• [Last week], a federal judge sentenced [Eric] Kellerman to a year and a day in prison for mail fraud and ordered him to repay more than $800,000 to the state bar's Lawyers Fund for Client Protection.

For more, see Yonkers lawyer gets year in prison for stealing clients' money (if link expired, try here).

Other states also have a Lawyers Fund for Client Protection that offers some protection to clients from these types of thefts.sneaky slick escrow agents beta