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A New York City real estate attorney who infamously was thought to have disappeared with millions in his clients’ money has been charged with grand larceny and has agreed to take a plea deal.
Prosecutors claim Mitch Kossoff, a partner at Kossoff PLLC, took more than $14M from his attorney escrow accounts in a scheme that ran for more than four years. He disappeared with the money and could not be contacted in April, but on Friday appeared before a Manhattan Criminal Court judge. He is expected to plead guilty at his next hearing on Dec. 9, the New York Post reports.
He was released with travel restrictions and surrendered his passport Friday, the Post reports. He would face up to 25 years in prison if convicted following a trial.
Kossoff represented major industry players including Larry Gluck and the notorious Steve Croman, but he allegedly cut off contact with clients earlier this year while overseeing the accounts, The Real Deal reported. That month, a New York judge froze several accounts linked to Kossoff.
In May, Kossoff’s firm was pushed into bankruptcy after four of its clients, who collectively claimed claim he misused a total of $8M, took action against him in New York bankruptcy court. Along with being charged with grand larceny in the first, second and third degrees, Kossoff is also charged with a scheme to defraud in the first degree.
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