Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the indictment of ANTHONY CHILLIEST, 55, a licensed real estate attorney, for stealing $210,000 from a client’s escrow account intended to purchase a Harlem apartment. CHILLIEST is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. [1]

“In Manhattan’s competitive real estate market, signing a contract to purchase a home should bring a sigh of relief. Instead, we allege, a real estate attorney abused the trust placed in him by draining an escrow account of $210,000 in funds for a newly contracted apartment weeks after the ink had dried,” said District Attorney Bragg. “New Yorkers must be able to trust that attorneys act ethically and professionally, and we will hold those in the legal profession to those very high standards.”

According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, CHILLIEST was hired to help a woman and her husband purchase an apartment in a Harlem co-op. In January of 2020, she signed the contract of sale for the unit, and then provided funds to CHILLIEST to be held in escrow pending the closing date. After depositing the client’s funds on May 14, 2020, Anthony Chilliest stole $210,000 by withdrawing from his New York State Interest on Lawyer Account Fund (“IOLA”) account on approximately June 15, 2020 – prior to the closing date and without permission or authority.

Assistant D.A. Nina Vershuta (Financial Frauds Bureau) is handling the prosecution of this case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Hope Korenstein (Deputy Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau) and Kofi Sansculotte (Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau), and Executive District Attorney Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division).

Investigators Christopher Liao and Ethan Ellsworth, Paralegal Brandon Martinez, Housing Coordinator Victoria Grevenberg, and Financial Investigator William Martin assisted with the investigation. Former Law Fellows Brianna Evans-Sheehan and Gianluca Ritz and former College Intern Ananya Singh also assisted with the case.

Defendant Information

ANTHONY CHILLIEST

Charged:

• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, one count

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[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.