Hastings-on-Hudson lawyer cops plea in $1.5M fraud case

A 71-year-old Hastings-on-Hudson attorney accused of stealing nearly $1.5 million from clients over a five-year period pleaded guilty on Monday to three felony charges that carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, according to Acting Westchester County District Attorney James A. McCarty.

Michael Lippman of Scarsdale was charged last September by the county district attorney of scheming to defraud 13 clients who turned over money to him for estate planning and real estate transactions, including a $431,300 property purchase payment and an approximately $159,400 mortgage payment from a client looking to stave off foreclosure on his property. In all, the attorney was accused of defrauding clients out of approximately $1,487,462.

County prosecutors also accused Lippman of failing to pay New York state taxes in excess of $50,000.

Lippman in Westchester County Court this week admitted guilt on one count each of second-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal tax fraud and first-degree scheme to defraud.

A graduate of Brooklyn Law School who started his law practice in 1969, Lippman for more than 25 years served as counsel to the Bronx Public Administrator, overseeing the estates of New Yorkers who died without a valid will. In 2014, he was charged in the Bronx with grand larceny counts after the New York City Department of Investigation determined that he took for himself more than $1.5 million from intestate estates from 2005 to 2008.

Lippman one year ago made restitution of about $146,000 to the estates of two families to settle the charges, according to published reports.

Lippmann”™s attorney at the time of his arrest in Westchester one year ago reportedly said the Westchester charges resulted from the Bronx investigation. His attorney attributed Lippman”™s criminal acts to his severe gambling addiction.

Lippman remains free on $50,000 bail, according to the county district attorney”™s office. He will be sentenced on June 8.