Bay Ridge attorney Steven Rondos, and the law firm Raia and Rondos, at 466 Bay Ridge Parkway, have been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on one 1 count of money laundering, 1 count of 1st-degree grand larceny, 9 counts of 2nd degree grand larceny, 5 counts of 3rd degree grand larceny, 1 count of a scheme to defraud, and one count of offering a false instrument for filing.Between 2001 and 2008, Rondos allegedly stole more than $4 million from the accounts of 23 incapacitated clients for whom he acted as a court-appointed guardian -- 14 of them in Brooklyn.
If convicted of the most serious of the charges, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
His victims included a 32-year-old quadriplegic with cerebral palsy who lost more than $1 million, and a now-deceased mental patient tapped for over $400,000.
Octogenarian Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau bluntly termed Rondos, a Canadian-born U.S. citizen, a "son of a bitch".
While serving as court-appointed guardian for incapacitated children and adults, Rondos used clients' funds to renovate -- landscaping, kitchen renovation and home theatre -- and pay off the mortgage on his Ridgewood, NJ. home.
He was arrested at home as a fugitive from justice and is booked under the alias "Stavras Rontoyiannis" at Bergen County Jail in New Jersey, awaiting extradition. He may also may face charges in New Jersey, where he has consented to disbarment.
According to his lawyer, Rondos is clinically depressed.
Rondos' wife and law partner Camille Raia has not been charged, but the investigation is continuing.
A Brooklyn Law School graduate, Rondos handled guardianship cases across the city. His victims included disabled elderly people and birth-injured children.
When confronted with the thefts, according to the Manhattan D.A.'s Office, Rondos stole funds from other victims to replace the missing money. In some instances, he took money from dead clients' accounts.
The Morgenthau investigation began last summer after the co-guardians of 12 incapacitated persons contacted a Smith Barney account representatives about large withdrawals made by either Raia or Rondos. Ralph Spagnoletti, for whose sister Andrea Spagnoletti Camille Raia was guardian, was one of the guardians who alerted the firm. Steven Rondos allegedly stole more than $1 million from Andrea Spagnoletti.
When Spagnoletti contacted the Raia and Rondos law firm about a $200,000 withdrawal from his sister's account between 2007 and 2008, and Rondos claimed the withdrawal was "a mistake", Spagnoletti and a Louisiana attorney who was friends with one of Rondos' other wards went to the Manhattan District Attorney.
In guardianship cases where Raia was appointed, investigators say she let Rondos stand in for her, without court permission, and make unauthorized account withdrawals.
Investigators say that Rondos admitted making withdrawals without court approval, but that Raia has disclaimed all knowledge of the fraud, saying she was ignorant of her husband's actions.
According to the New York State Office of Court Administration (OCA), Rondos has been involved in more than 50 guardianship proceedings over the past 5 years, being paid $200,000 in legal fees. According to the AP, Rondos managed between $20 million and $30 million in assets, with the largest estate being valued at just over $5 million.
Admitted to the bar in 1991, Rondos worked at the New York City Department of Finance from 1995 to 1996. In 2002, he chaired the Bay Ridge Lawyers Association. He served as vice chair of the guardianship committee of the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association in 2003.
Guardianship cases usually don't come back before a judge unless there is some judicial action required. The New York Office of Court Administration (OCA) admitted that Rondos' actions were apparently the result of lax oversight by court examiners, and that some of the court examiners monitoring guardian accounts had been asked to resign.
Judges appoint court examiners from a list of lawyers and others certified by the Appellate Division to review guardians' annual reports. Examiners, who are supposed to review guardians' reports and bills, are reimbursed annually based on the size of the estates they monitor.
Court examiners, called the "key to guardian oversight in New York" and the "eyes and ears" of the court, make often cursory reviews; don't vet guardians' reports; rarely interview guardians face-to-face; delegate many of the details to clerical staff; and otherwise have little contact with guardians.
Sixteen different examiners signed off on the Rondos cases subject to the indictment, including a court attorney at the Manhattan Surrogate's Court.
Five court examiners have resigned, and one has been suspended, as a result of the Rondos prosecution.
The Office of Court Administration, by creating the "court examiner specialist" title, has now added another layer of oversight to the guardianship system. Starting immediately, OCA has mandated compliance hearings between guardians and courts whenever a filing or accounting is late.
Former Supreme Court Justice Leonard Scholnick, the Brooklyn judge who appointed Rondos to oversee at least 7 of the guardianship accounts the attorney has been charged with fleecing, said he thought Rondos was "one of the good guys", but that nothing shocks him anymore.
Scholnick said he appointed Rondos in a case involving a "family feud" because he felt Mr. Rondos' Greek heritage could help resolve the dispute.
The post from Gothamist.
Additional details from New York Lawyer, a New York Law Journal publication.
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