Helen Saulnier 
Posted on: July 27, 2022, 09:52h.
Very last up-to-date on: July 27, 2022, 10:23h.
A so-called “lottery law firm” who represented some of America’s most important jackpot winners has been convicted of fraud and funds laundering. A federal jury in Brooklyn Tuesday identified that Jason “Jay” Kurland performed rapid and unfastened with his clients’ dollars, collectively bilking them out of out of $107 million.
Kurland positioned himself as the range-one lottery attorney in the nation, advising the quickly tremendous-wealthy on how to safeguard by themselves, their anonymity, and their dollars. He even owned the url lotterylawyer.com.
He counted amongst his shoppers the America’s all-time largest lottery winner. The anonymous specific from South Carolina who scooped $1.5 billion on the Mega Tens of millions draw in 2018 was also just one of his victims.
Kurland had a sideline, a service provider money progress small business, Cheddar Capital. He certain customers to make investments in the business without the need of declaring his ownership, prior to funneling some of this dollars again to himself in the kind of “finder’s charges.”
Partners in Cheddar
Associates in Cheddar Cash bundled Frankie Russo, son of the late Colombo crime family members capo Joseph “JoJo” Russo, and a former securities broker named Frank Smookler.
In 2018, the trio considered they experienced stumbled on a foolproof moneymaking possibility. A Lengthy Island jeweler, Greg Altieri, advised them he could purchase parts at “clearout” charges and flip them for a 30% to 70% gain, but he desired funds. Kurland new a several people who experienced a lot of that and certain his customers to devote about $80 million.
When Altieri was arrested by the FBI in 2020 for operating a massive Ponzi plan, the Cheddar Funds trio were being panicked into chasing their losses. At the peak of the pandemic, they plowed money into a shady deal to provide PPE tools to the point out of California.
Kurland confident the nameless winner in South Carolina to make investments $19.5 million in the enterprise. When he was told the plan wanted two times that substantially, he basically served himself to the rest from his client’s lender account, which he managed.
It turned out the PPE business enterprise was operated by reputed Genovese criminal offense loved ones soldier Christopher Chierchio, and Kurland under no circumstances noticed a return on the investment decision.
‘Victim’ Declare Didn’t Stand Up
Kurland was the only a single of Russo, Smookler, and Chierchio to plead not guilty in the circumstance. His lawyer argued he was a victim of the other 3.
But the jury disagreed, unanimously.
He utilised his situation as a lawyer—a job started on duties of honesty and loyalty—to steer his clientele to spend tens of millions of dollars in businesses that he secretly owned and took unlawful kickbacks dependent on his clients’ investments with out their knowledge,” US Attorney Damian Williams claimed in an official statement.
“Ultimately, the defendant and his co-conspirators lined their personal pockets when his clients endured significant losses from their crimes,” Williams explained.
Kurland faces up to 20 yrs in jail when sentenced.
