From The Easter Bunny To Consent Disbarment
The New Jersey Supreme Court has accepted an attorney’s consent to disbarment.
The New Jersey Office of the United States Attorney noted his recent guilty plea to one count of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of obstructing the IRS, one count of failing to file an individual income tax return, and one count of wire fraud while on pretrial release.
NJ.com reported in January 2023
A Jersey City attorney has been charged with defrauding his clients of more than $2 million and identity theft, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Thursday.
James R. Lisa, 67, was indicted on three counts of wire fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft.
Lisa was arraigned Thursday via videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge José R. Almonte. He pleaded not guilty and was release on $100,000 unsecured bond.
According to the indictment, in 2014, Lisa was retained by a family to help with the repatriation of millions of dollars that had been transferred to offshore bank accounts decades earlier by family members. He was also retained to assist with the resolution of tax issues related to the funds’ repatriation. In 2016, the family’s funds were repatriated by Lisa, but he misinformed the family that the funds remained offshore, the indictment alleges.
In 2017, Lisa provided the family with $4 million of the repatriated funds, but continued to falsely represent that the remaining $2 million was beyond his control, the indictment says.
Dating back to 1995, Lisa has faced sanctions from the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics related to practicing law in New York while his license was suspended in New Jersey, setting up an inappropriate fee-sharing arrangement with a Hudson County jail officer, record keeping deficiencies, and cocaine use, Hudson County View reported Thursday.
Lisa, whose law office is located on Newark Avenue, has represented some notable clients over the years in Hudson County.
He represented the Newport Centre Mall Easter bunny who was videotaped in 2016 brawling with a parent a week before Easter. Lisa then represented the Pennsylvania man who was pulled over near the Holland Tunnel with a truck full of guns in 2017.
Also in 2017, he represented a former dominatrix fighting to keep her job as a Hudson County sheriff’s officer.
Each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $250,000.
Each count of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory penalty of two years in prison, which must run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment, and a fine not to exceed $250,000.
(Mike Frisch)