Suit Accuses NY Lawyer of Looting More than $15M from Trusts
A lawsuit accuses a New York lawyer of living the high life with more than $15 million looted from five foreign trusts.
Lawyer Winthrop Ross Munyan, the trustee for the funds, was accused in the state court lawsuit of taking the money over a period of nearly 11 years, the National Law Journal reports. Also named as a defendant was the Rye, N.Y., trusts and estates firm Munyan left last year, Riad & Associates.
The suit claims that that Munyan “shamelessly looted” money from the accounts all “while living the high life, eating lavish meals at expensive restaurants, enjoying extravagant travel, often flying on the Concorde, and maintaining an apartment in Paris and hotel suites in London,” according to the Courthouse News Service.
“It is unclear whether Munyan planned his scheme from the outset or if he slithered into it as the opportunity arose,” the suit says.
The plaintiffs are represented by Michael Feldberg of Allen & Overy.
Riad managing partner Maged Riad told the National Law Journal that he questioned something that appeared improper, and Munyan left the firm the same day. “He was acting as trustee for the foreign trusts for 30 or 40 years. I thought I saw something improper, and I called the trustees and brought it to their attention,” Riad said.
