Disbarred lawyer sentenced to prison for embezzling nearly $2M for gambling addiction
A disbarred Boston attorney was sentenced to prison after being convicted of embezzling millions from clients to support his gambling addiction. (Image from Shutterstock)
A disbarred Boston attorney will serve several years in prison after being convicted of embezzling millions from clients to support his gambling addiction.
Boston television station WCVB reports that lawyer Benjamin Tariri, 68, of Boston was sentenced Thursday to three to five years in state prison. He was convicted of embezzling nearly $2 million from client funds and falsifying client ledgers to hide his actions from the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Tariri was found guilty on six counts of fiduciary embezzlement, one count of larceny over $250 from a person older than age 60, two counts of larceny over $1,200 and five counts of attempted obstruction of Board of Bar Overseers proceedings. He also was ordered to repay $575,000 in restitution and seek treatment for his gambling addiction.
Formerly an attorney with a general practice in Boston, Tariri developed a gambling addiction and began embezzling money from clients to sustain his addiction and lifestyle, the state attorney general’s office said.
An investigation was launched after several clients and attorneys complained to the Board of Bar Overseers. He was disbarred in 2023, according to WCVB.
Lawyers’ vulnerability to gambling addiction was the subject of an ABA Journal feature story last year.
Resources for Lawyers
- The Well-Being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers is at ABAJournal.com/toolkit.
- The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is 988.
- Directory of Lawyer Assistance Programs by state is at ABAJournal.com/lap.
- ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs
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