Disbarred Attorney Indicted On Charges Of Pocketing $100K From Clients' Escrow Accounts

From the Queens County, New York district attorney:

• Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced [...] that a former Queens attorney has been arraigned on charges of looting the escrow accounts of several clients and failing to return over $100,000 that she had been holding on behalf of those clients.

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• District Attorney Brown said that, according to the indictment, [attorney Arelia] Taveras accepted $2,500 from a buyer as a contract deposit and an additional $22,500 as a down payment on a cooperative apartment in Bayside that she was selling. It is further alleged that the buyer’s application was subsequently denied by the cooperative board and that when she tried to get her deposit back Taveras refused to return the money.

• In addition, according to the indictment, Taveras is accused of ripping off three clients [...] The indictment charges that Taveras failed to release $10,000 of the client’s money that was held in escrow. Another client was allegedly bilked of $40,000 stemming from the sale of commercial property. Taveras is accused of stealing $34,142 from a third client who allegedly retained her to represent him in connection with a divorce proceeding and a refinancing of his home.

For the Queens DA press release, see D.A. Brown: Disbarred Attorney Indicted On Charges Of Raiding Escrow Accounts And Stealing Over $100,000 From Clients. sneaky slick escrow agents gamma