New York Lawyer Accused Of Conning Lottery Winners Out Of $107 Million

Kurland was arrested Tuesday morning along with three other men who allegedly used money fleeced from multiple lottery winners for private jets, expensive vacations and yachts, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

One of the men arrested, Christopher Chierchio, was allegedly a soldier in the Gambino crime family, prosecutors told the New York Times.

Kurland would promise to help guide and protect his newly wealthy client’s investments, then steer them toward business deals controlled by Chierchio and the other defendants in exchange for kickbacks.

The lottery winners paid Kurland between $75,000 and $200,000 upfront for his services, along with monthly payments between $15,000 and $50,000.

A jeweler named Gregory Altieri was given a loan of $250,000 from the lottery winners money; when Altieri couldn’t repay it, two of the defendants, Frangesco Russo and Francis Smookler, threated to torture him and kill his family.

In a 2016 interview with Vice, Kurland said lottery winners can be easy targets for scammers, “A lot of these winners are not sophisticated enough to see it, so you really have to rely on the professionals.”