Um, what is up with lawyers nowadays? This guy steals from escrow funds, this one held on to settlement funds, these guys bribed clients. And then there’s Bernie and Marc.
You know, the word “law” is right in the name, guys.
Now a Brooklyn lawyer has been charged with stealing more than $4 million over seven years from guardianship bank accounts he supervised for incapacitated elderly people and children.
Steven T. Rondos, 44, and his firm, Raia & Rondos, have been indicted for money laundering, grand larceny, a scheme to defraud and offering a false instrument for filing.
Rondos was arrested in his Ridgewood, New Jersey, home and taken to the Bergen County jail.
A spokesman for the New York court system acknowledged that some of the thefts “should have been caught earlier” and reported that “a handful” of examiners assigned to monitor the accounts of guardians had been asked to resign.
Rondos, a graduate of Brooklyn Law School, was appointed as legal guardian of the assets of incapacitated persons in the New York metropolitan area. The 23 victims included mentally and physically impaired elderly people as well as children suffering from cerebral palsy due to medical malpractice at birth.
Rondos is accused of using large portion of the money for the mortgage on his Ridgewood home and for extensive improvements, including landscaping, kitchen renovations and a home theater.
Prosecutors say that on three occasions, when Rondos was confronted with the thefts, he stole funds from other victims to pay back his prior victim. Bernie Madoff would be so proud.
Rondos’ wife Camille Raia is the firm’s other named partner, and is not facing any charges.