Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Thursday, June 15, that two men have been charged in separate indictments for stealing from elderly people, highlighting economic abuse of seniors who, she said, put their trust and life savings in the hands of fraudsters.

 

She said one of the indictments charges a disbarred Bronx attorney for stealing from the living and the dead in a real estate fraud scheme, and from estates that left funds to charities. In the context of the announcement, Clark said, “The defendant allegedly ingratiated himself with mostly elderly clients in Riverdale, gaining power of attorney or becoming executor of their wills, and took profits from selling their homes or kept money that was left to charities. His alleged actions led to unsurmountable financial harm, as well as stress for people of advanced age. It is elderly abuse.”

 

Clark said the defendant, Paul Frieary, 69, of Shendaken, NY, who had a law office on Riverdale Avenue, is charged with second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, first-degree scheme to defraud, and second-degree scheme to defraud. Frieary was arraigned on June 1 before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. He was placed on supervised release and is due back in court on August 23.

 

According to the investigation, between July 2014 to January 2021, the defendant took thousands of dollars from victims in retainer fees to represent them in their real estate closing, and allegedly never dispersed money to clients when he received money from buyers. According to the prosecution, Frieary was disbarred from the practice of law in October 2020 following the Attorney Grievance Committee’s investigation into alleged predatory practices carried out by him, while acting as an attorney on behalf of multiple interested parties to various land sale contracts and probate petitions.

 

According to the prosecution, in one incident, Frieary represented buyers of a home owned by a couple in their 90s. He allegedly gave them some $329,000 but kept more than $277,000. Officials said that they passed away after trying for years to no avail to get the rest of the money owed to them.

 

They said that in another incident, an elderly woman, whose husband predeceased her, and who had no family in the U. S., hired Frieary and gave him full power of attorney and made him the executor of her estate. According to the prosecution, in her will, she left $350,000 to seven charities including the Bowery Mission, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, Food Bank for New York City, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In 2014, officials said she passed away, and the charities listed confirmed that there were never any donations given by the woman’s estate, Paul Frieary, nor any of his companies.

 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Samantha Sizemore of the Economic Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of John Oxenreiter, supervisor in the Economic Crimes Bureau, Michelle Milanes, deputy chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau, and Herman Wun, chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the Investigations Division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, chief of the Investigations Division.

 

Clark thanked trial preparation assistant, Cindy Murillo, and principal account investigator, Lorraine Ciechanowicz, of the Economic Crimes Bureau, senior Bronx DA rackets investigators, Vincent Cantarella and Brendan Sullivan, and Detective Investigator Hugh Higgins for their work on the case.

 

She also thanked NY State Police Senior Investigator John Bode, Investigator Israel Vazquez, Investigator Blake Hasbrouch, along with Investigator Joseph Temple of Troop F.

 

In the second case, the defendant allegedly nearly depleted a 95-year-old woman’s savings by alleged check fraud.

 

Clark said, “A 95-year old woman who does not speak English entrusted her checkbook to someone. Allegedly, the checks wound up in the hands of the defendant, who cashed over $120,000 worth of checks. The victim bravely testified to the grand jury. It’s a cautionary tale for everyone, particularly seniors, that no one should give their account information to anyone unless they have made sure the person is trustworthy.”

 

Clark said Rudolf Drauch, 60, of West Babylon, NY, is charged with second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, fourth-degree criminal tax fraud, and fifth-degree criminal tax fraud. She said he was arraigned on June 13, before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas and is due back in court on Sept. 28.

 

According to the investigation, between February and August 2022, the victim, a 95-year-old Bronx woman who does not speak English, gave blank checks to someone to pay bills for her. While she was temporarily in a nursing home, the defendant allegedly cashed 72 of them totaling $120,263. Drauch allegedly withdrew almost all the victim’s savings. The victim’s nephew, who grew suspicious over his aunt’s finances, contacted the Bronx DA’s Office in 2022, and a joint investigation with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance uncovered the check fraud and failure to report the income on tax returns.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney John Oxenreiter of the Economic Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Michelle Milanes, deputy chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau, and Herman Wun, chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the Investigations Division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, chief of the Investigations Division.

 

Clark thanked Bronx DA principal account investigator James Antonino for his assistance in the case, as well as the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Criminal Investigations Division, for their work in the investigation.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.