Luigi Rosabianca sentenced to up to 12 years in prison

Former real estate attorney accused of stealing clients’ money

Luigi Rosabianca
Luigi Rosabianca (credit: Robert Caplin)

Former real estate attorney Luigi Rosabianca will spend four to 12 years in prison for grand larceny under a plea deal signed Monday. Manhattan prosecutors had accused him of stealing more than $4.5 million from escrow and estate accounts he managed on behalf of clients.

Under the deal, Rosabianca will also have to repay his victims a combined $2.9 million.

“Luigi Rosabianca targeted and preyed upon vulnerable clients, whether that person was suffering from a serious mental illness, caring for a sick spouse, or simply living in a different country,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance jr. said in a statement.

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According to prosecutors, the attorney stole money from seven victims. In one case from early 2015, he took $1.75 million out of the escrow account. The funds were intended to go to a couple that had just sold their apartment. Rosabianca also stole from two estate funds he oversaw on behalf of clients, one of whom was suffering from schizophrenia and “unable to take care of herself’” according to prosecutors.

The First Judicial Department suspended Rosabianca from practicing law in March 2015, but the attorney ignored the order and when on to steal another $300,000 from clients, prosecutors said. He was disbarred in July 2015.

Correction: A previous version of the headline misidentified the length of the sentence. It is between four and 12 years. It also mischaracterized Cyrus Vance as a federal attorney. He is, in fact, a local prosecutor.