A Bronxville real estate attorney faces seven grand larceny charges for his alleged theft of more than $1 million from his clients”™ escrow accounts over a five-year period.
Timothy Griffin, a Ridgefield, Conn. resident, was arraigned Thursday in New Rochelle City Court on the felony charges, state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a press release.
In a separate case, Griffin in February was charged with grand larceny for allegedly transferring $1.9 million to his own attorney escrow account from the account of United Hebrew Cemetery on Staten Island while he served as the cemetery nonprofit”™s acting president.
In Westchester, Griffin allegedly transferred money to his personal bank account that his clients had given him to be held in escrow for pending real estate transactions. Schneiderman said the alleged thefts, which occurred between April 2009 and February, were used to support his family”™s “extravagant lifestyle.”
Griffin allegedly used the funds to pay membership fees at Waccabuc Country Club and to purchase BMW and Lexus automobiles and expensive jewelry, among other personal expenses.
Schneiderman said investigators from the attorney general”™s criminal enforcement and financial crimes bureau believe Griffin stole from the cemetery to reimburse the escrow account from which he had been stealing his law clients”™ money.
Griffin faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the Westchester County charges. He faces the same maximum penalty for the alleged thefts on Staten Island, Schneiderman said.
