A cautionary tale: SC woman lost $83 million to NY man known as the ‘lottery lawyer’

The week of one of the largest lottery drawings in history, a New York man who called himself the “lottery lawyer” was convicted of various charges relating to defrauding lottery winners, including a South Carolina woman who collected $877 million.

A Brooklyn, New York, jury on Tuesday unanimously convicted Jason Kurland of five counts of wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and money laundering, according to court documents. The government estimated Kurland caused losses to three lottery winners of more than $100 million.

Court documents say the South Carolina woman lost $83 million to Kurland.

The government alleged the woman gave Kurland money to invest for her and gave him access to her bank account, from which he directly took millions. She has not been identified, but her winning ticket was bought in Simpsonville, South Carolina.

It took the woman more than 100 days to claim her Oct. 23, 2018, prize. She said she was researching who would best help her manage the money. It was only after she found Kurland that she came forward to claim the prize, The State reported at the time.

Kurland said in a news release at the time that the woman planned to use some of the money for “philanthropic endeavors” in South Carolina and specifically in Simpsonville. She wanted to donate to charities, such as Ronald McDonald House of Charities of Columbia; One SC Fund – for Hurricane Florence Relief; In The Middle, Columbia; the City of Simpsonville Art Center; and American Red Cross Alabama Region — Tornado Relief Fund, according to the news release.

During the opening day of testimony in the trial on July 13, New York carpenter Nandlall Mangal, who won a $245 million Powerball jackpot in 2018, said “We had a large lump sum of money. We didn’t know what’s coming next. He made us feel very comfortable, very sure he could do this,” the New York Daily news reported.

Kurland pleaded not guilty, saying he was deceived by others who were also charged in the scheme. Two of them, Francis “Frank” Smookler and Frangesco “Frank” Russo, testified against Kurland. Both of them previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and extortion and are awaiting sentencing.

Also charged in the case was Christopher Chierchio, who pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering and is awaiting sentencing.

Kurland’s attorney Tim Kasulis told the jury, “There are real criminals in this case, and you are going to meet some of them in this courtroom. But Jason is not one of them,” the Daily News reported.

Kurland was a partner in the Rivkin Radler law firm, based in Long Island, New York, until he was arrested.

The government has estimated Kurland’s clients have won $3 billion combined.

According to a July 1 report by Bloomberg, “Prosecutors would allege that Kurland, Smookler, and Russo used these companies’ accounts as a ‘slush fund’ for personal expenses such as a Range Rover and a shopping spree at Dick’s Sporting Goods”.

After Kurland’s conviction, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that Kurland steered clients to invest millions in companies he secretly owned and took illegal kickbacks based on his clients’ investments without their knowledge.

“Ultimately, the defendant and his co-conspirators lined their own pockets while his clients suffered massive losses from their crimes,” Williams said.

Kurland’s attorneys, Telemachus Kasulis and Dennis Dillon of Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello, did not respond to requests for comment.

The lawyer for co-conspirator Chierchio told Bloomberg reporter Simon van Zuylen-Wood, “I’ve been at this for 40 or more years, and I’ve never seen a guy that was deader in the water with the evidence against him than Jason Kurland.”

Federal prosecutors had tapes of the co-conspirators talking about their scheme, court records said.