BRONX WOMAN CHARGED WITH PRACTICING LAW WITHOUT A LICENSE AND STEALING HER CLIENTS’ MONEY
Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that 45-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with grand larceny and practicing law without a license.
Kehinde Jobi, of 1407 Crotona Avenue, was charged with three counts of Grand larceny in the 3rd degree, a Class D, felony offense punishable by up to 7 years imprisonment on each count, and three counts of Judicially Disbarred Attorney Practicing Law, a Class A misdemeanor offense publishable by a maximum sentence of up to one year in jail on each count.
It is alleged that Jobi stole more than $42,000 from three people and also misrepresented herself as an attorney to two others in unrelated proceedings involving a divorce and a bankruptcy.
According to court papers, Jobi allegedly accepted payments of $10,000 on August 20, 2005 and $6,535 on October 11, 2005 to satisfy a client’s past due mortgage payments. The payments were never made, the bank foreclosed on the property on May 12, 2006 and the money was never returned to the client.
Jobi is also accused of stealing $21,250 from a man who had written the check as a down payment on a house. Although the real estate deal fell through the down payment was never returned. Jobi is accused of withdrawing these funds illegally from an escrow account by writing checks on the account payable to herself. According to court papers the down payment was made on February 21, 2006 and that by August 1, 2006 the escrow account balance was less than nine hundred dollars.
In another instance, it is alleged that Jobi accepted $4,500 that was to have been used to post bond for a client who had been taken into custody on an immigration matter. When the case was dismissed on July 28, 2006 and the client was released without having posted bond, Jobi allegedly refused to return the money.
On October 23, 2008, the defendant was suspended from practicing law in New York State; however, she allegedly continued to misrepresent herself as an attorney. According to court papers, Jobi who had been retained to represent a client in a divorce action had a telephone conference with opposing counsel on December 11, 2008 in an effort to settle the case. Jobi also allegedly wrote two letters to opposing counsel regarding a disposition of the case. The letters were dated November 22, 2008 and January 22, 2009 and were written on the defendant’s “Attorney at Law” stationery.
Court papers cite another incident on April 23, 2009 when the defendant allegedly accepted $1,050 to represent a client in a bankruptcy proceeding.
All of the crimes allegedly occurred at the defendant’s law office at 95 East 161st Street, the Bronx.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Lewis of the Arson/Auto/Economic Fraud Bureau.
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