Posted on: July 29, 2019 02:00 PM

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Lawyer charged with stealing client s cash in excess of 200 000 from sale of million dollar home

Acting Queens District Attorney John M. Ryan today announced that a Brooklyn resident, who has a law office in Rosedale, Queens, has been charged with grand larceny for allegedly stealing more than $200,000 from a client following the sale of a residential property in Brooklyn in November 2013.

Acting District Attorney Ryan said, ?The defendant in this case was trusted to handle a complex real estate sale and to hold the money in escrow on behalf of her client. Instead, the lawyer is accused of slowly siphoning funds from the bank account. Over time, the cash in that account was depleted to nearly nothing. This defendant is alleged to have acted without regard for her client to benefit her own greed. Such alleged actions cannot go unpunished.?

The District Attorney?s Office identified the defendant as Audrey Thomas, 49, of Rogers Avenue in Brooklyn. The defendant, who has an office on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Rosedale, Queens, turned herself in to law enforcement early yesterday morning and was arraigned several hours later before Queens Criminal Court Judge Karen Gopee. The defendant is charged in a criminal complaint with second-degree grand larceny. Thomas was released on her own recognizance and ordered to return to court on September 12, 2019. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 15 years in prison.

According to the charges, in May of 2013, a Brooklyn woman hired Thomas to represent her in the sale of a home she owned on Madison Street in Brooklyn. The contract for the sale of the property was $1 million and during the closing in November of 2013, several checks were issued. The defendant as to hold all funds in escrow for the client. The checks were deposited into the defendant?s Bank of America account, but in May of 2014, that account was closed and the balance was transferred into a JP Morgan Chase account.

Over time, Thomas allegedly engaged in a pattern of activity depleting the account and using the funds for both personal and business expenses. By November of 2014, the Chase bank account balance was down to just $25. Thomas, when confronted by the victim?s daughter, allegedly stated in sum and substance that she had lost all proceeds from the sale of the home.

The investigation was conducted by Detectives Thomas Kaup and Kevin Kehoe, of the Queens District Attorney?s Detective Bureau, under the supervision of Deputy Chief Investigator Robert J. Burke and under the overall supervision of chief Investigator Franco Russo. Also assisting in the investigation financial Analyst Edwin Cuebas, under the supervision of Supervising Accountant Investigator James Dever.

Assistant District Attorney Karlton S. Jarrett, of the District Attorney?s Integrity Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys James M. Liander, Bureau Chief, Khadijah Muhammad-Starling, Deputy Bureau Chief, Yvonne Francis and Daniel J. O?Leary, Supervisors, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Wilbert J. LeMelle. (From Queens DA's office)