Oct 11 (Reuters) – A New York lawyer has been sentenced to up to 7.5 years in prison after stealing more than $1.2 million from his law firm to spend on luxury items including a diamond-encrusted watch, Manhattan prosecutors said.
Arthur Cohen, 72, was sentenced on Tuesday to between 2.5 and 7.5 years in prison, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement, calling Cohen’s crime a “brazen scheme”.
Cohen pleaded guilty last month to grand larceny in the first degree for stealing from the now-defunct Gordon & Silber law firm in Manhattan.
Cohen’s lawyer, Jacob Kaplan of Brafman & Associates, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As senior equity partner and treasurer at Gordon & Silber, Cohen used the firm as his “personal gold mine,” prosecutors said.
Cohen spent firm funds on a $40,000 diamond-encrusted Cartier watch and a $57,000 diamond ring, and spent more than $100,000 to pay off his son’s American Express card debt, prosecutors said. He also used stolen company funds for luxury hotel stays and on luxury cars, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Cohen falsified accounting entries and expense reports to cover his tracks from January 2014 to February 2020. He was then suspended from the firm, which demanded he repay at least some of the money.
