Rosedale lawyer faces 15 years for stealing more than $200K from client

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By Jonathan Sperling

A Rosedale lawyer who was hired by a client to facilitate the sale of a million-dollar Brooklyn home ended up stealing more than $200,000 from the woman, Queens prosecutors say.

Attorney Audrey Thomas lives in Brooklyn but has a law office on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Rosedale. Thomas, 49, was hired to represent a woman looking to sell her home on Madison Street in Brooklyn. The contract for the sale of the property was $1 million, and several checks were issued during the closing in November 2013, prosecutors said. 

Thomas was allegedly tasked with holding all of the related funds in escrow for the client and the checks were deposited into the defendant’s Bank of America account, but in May 2014, that account was closed and the balance was transferred into a JP Morgan Chase account, prosecutors say.

The lawyer turned herself into law enforcement officials on Monday and was arraigned before Judge Karen Gopee. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

“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,” Acting District Attorney John Ryan said in a statement. 

“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,” he added.

Thomas allegedly depleted the account by using the funds for both personal and business expenses, according to prosecutors. By November 2014, the Chase bank account balance was down to just $25. When confronted by the victim’s daughter, Thomas allegedly stated in sum and substance that she had lost all proceeds from the sale of the home.