Partner's son admits embezzling $827K from law firm, says details are fuzzy because of drugs
The son of a partner in a Pittsburgh law firm pleaded guilty to bank fraud for embezzling $827,000 from the firm while serving as office manager.
Anthony Calaiaro, 34, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to forging a partner’s name on about 500 checks payable to himself, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. In the check register, he listed the checks as payable to vendors, prosecutors said. He was also accused of preparing checks to transfer money from the firm’s trust account to its business account so he could forge more checks to himself.
The scheme took place between June 2014 and April 2016 when Calaiaro worked at the bankruptcy law firm Calaiaro Valencik. His father is partner Donald Calaiaro.
At a hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Cercone asked Anthony Calaiaro whether he agreed with a prosecutor’s description of his crimes. Calaiaro and his lawyer said Calaiaro was on drugs at the time, and he wasn’t sure how much money he had taken.
The law firm has previously said it cooperated with the investigation and no client lost money in the scheme.
