Nassau Woman Admits Stealing Around 750K from Attorney Boss' Client: DA

MINEOLA, NY — A New Hyde Park woman pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree grand larceny in connection with pocketing around $750,000 from a 91-year-old woman whose attorney she worked for, Nassau prosecutors said.

Elizabeth Reilly, 50, is expected to be sentenced to three to six years in prison when she is due back in court on July 7, according to prosecutors.

District Attorney Anne Donnelly said the woman's employer, a Floral Park attorney, had a verbal agreement with her that he would handle her finances as she began executing a power of attorney, a living will, and other documents with him.

As part of this agreement, the law office’s address became the mailing address on record for the victim’s financial institutions and Reilly was given access to bank statements, checkbooks, credit cards, and financial statements, according to Donnelly.

Between 2016 and 2020, over 250 checks were written from the victim’s bank accounts and were made out to Reilly or to cash and then deposited into her accounts or an account held by her husband, Donnelly said.

The deposited checks totaled over $675,000, according to Donnelly.

Reilly used the victim's credit cards to make unauthorized purchases for her benefit, including charges for personal purchases, beauty products, a gym membership, and airline tickets, Donnelly said.

She also made purchases using her own PayPal account, and then paid her account with the woman's credit card, Donnelly said, adding, that ultimately, Reilly paid the woman's credit card balances online, using her bank accounts.

The theft was discovered in October 2020, when Reilly’s employer reviewed the woman’s credit card statements and saw questionable activity and the case was referred to the DA’s Financial Crimes Bureau in February 2021.

“At an advanced age, the victim knew it made fiscal sense to trust her finances to her attorney," Donnelly said. "She couldn’t have predicted that the defendant, who was given access to her bank statements, checkbooks, and credit cards, would look at her life’s savings as a convenient payday."

“The defendant drained nearly three-quarters of a million dollars from the woman, paying for airline tickets, a gym membership, and other personal purchases," she said. "We will continue to fight for Nassau County’s seniors who, sadly, are victimized often by financial fraud schemes.”

Reilly's attorney, Marc Gann of Carle Place, could not be immediately reached for comment.