Lawyer who avoided jail time by paying restitution reportedly steals more money a year later
Michael Lippman, a suburban New York City lawyer, was recently charged with stealing more than $1.4 million from clients. The accusation comes a year after he settled felony grand larceny charges, stemming from allegations that as an attorney in the Bronx Public Administrator’s Office he stole more than $1.5 million from estates he settled.
Regarding the more recent charges, Lohud.com reports that Lippman allegedly took the money from 13 clients, between 2010 and 2015.
For the Bronx matter, Lippman in September 2014 pleaded guilty to two counts of grand larceny, and avoided jail time by paying approximately $150,000 in restitution, according to a 2014 press release from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. He was disbarred the same month that the plea agreement was announced.
Murray Richman, Lippman’s lawyer, told the newspaper that his 70-year-old client has a gambling problem, and it’s unlikely he can repay the recently alleged thefts. According to Richman, Lippman has been living in his law office, located in Westchester County’s Hastings-on-Hudson.
“It’s all a result of his addiction,” Richman said. “It’s ruined his life.”
Lippman, charged with grand larceny, criminal tax fraud and scheme to defraud, was released on $50,000 bail.
According to the Scarsdale Patch, in one instance, Lippman reportedly took approximately $159,000 from a foreclosure client who thought the money would be used to pay off a mortgage and stave off a foreclosure, and in another took $431,000 from someone planning to complete a property purchase.
