$3 Million Stolen From Law Firm by Bookkeeper, Prosecutors Say
"What scares me is what if the law firm followed all the rules and she got around it?”
law.com/dailybusinessreview
Michael A. Mora
27 May 2022
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey has filed a criminal complaint against a bookkeeper whom prosecutors alleged stole several million dollars from a law firm in Boca Raton, Florida.
Authorities charged Janet Lee Blissitt, 66, with wire fraud, according to the criminal complaint. If convicted, she could face a maximum term of two decades in prison, along with a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the pecuniary gain to the defendant or loss to the victim, whichever is greater.
Officials did not name the victim law firm.
‘What Scares Me’
Randolph Braccialarghe, a legal ethics and criminal jurisprudence professor at Nova Southeastern University College of Law, noted that the facts the U.S. Attorney’s Office has released so far are scant. He urged law firms to learn about the details of the alleged crime in order to evaluate their own procedures, and ensure the protection of client money.
“If it is just because one of the steps the law firm was supposed to do was not done, then the Florida Bar will take that very seriously,” said Braccialarghe, who is not involved in the case. “We need to know if the law firm followed the trust accounting rules, or was there a rule it didn’t follow? What scares me is what if the law firm followed all the rules and she got around it? That would make us all vulnerable.”
When a law firm cannot protect itself from fraud, then what hope do small condo corporations have to prevent theft? The only way for the owners to limit the number of sticky fingers is to have an ethical and vigilant board of directors.