Ex Philly Attorney Used Stolen Funds To Buy Hamptons Home: Feds

PHILADELPHIA — A former Philadelphia attorney admitted in court to stealing clients' settlement and estate funds to buy homes in the area and the Hamptons, federal authorities said.

United States Attorney William M. McSwain said Harris Roy Rosen, 65, of Sag Harbor, New York, pleaded guilty to fraud charges stemming from a scheme to steal funds from his clients.

Rosen, an attorney who practiced law in Philadelphia through the business Rosen and Rosen PC, was charged by Information in February 2020 with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and tax evasion.

From about 2013 to 2017, Rosen ran complex fraud scheme through which he stole settlement and estate funds from his clients to support his lavish lifestyle, including buying homes in both Philadelphia and the Hamptons, New York, and a Mercedes-Benz vehicle.

As part of the scheme, Rosen routinely lied to clients about the status of their funds; forged clients' names on settlement checks to deposit them into his personal bank accounts; forged checks to steal money from a client; and created fake bank statements to lull clients into believing that their settlement or estate funds were in appropriate bank accounts waiting to be disbursed. Ultimately, many clients did not get any of the settlement or estate funds to which they were entitled.

Rosen also intentionally failed to file tax returns to avoid reporting his illicit income.

He ultimately defrauded clients of approximately $796,000. Based upon his evasion of federal taxes, he has a criminal tax due and owing to the Internal Revenue Service of approximately $261,000.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lesley S. Bonney.