A Manhattan personal injury attorney has been sentenced for embezzling almost $400,000 in settlement funds from his clients. John M. Ioannou, 58, received a 2 1/3-to-7 year sentence on Thursday after pleading guilty in July to the top charges in four indictments, including grand larceny in the second and third degree and first-degree identity theft (NYLJ, Aug. 23, 2012).
Among the clients Ioannou bilked starting in 2007 was a young wife widowed when her husband died in an automobile accident who went to Ioannou to negotiate a settlement for the couple's infant daughter. Ioannou, however, kept the money for himself. Ioannou also stole funds from an elderly woman and a young, single mother, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. In one case, he claimed to represent a dialysis patient whom he never met, forged her signature and stole insurance funds.
