News
Former RB Lawyer Charged With Misappropriating Client Funds
By John Burton
FREEHOLD - A former Red Bank lawyer faces charges he misappropriated funds entrusted to him by clients, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office announced this week.
A grand jury on Tuesday handed down the one-count indictment against Gary Edelson charging him with second degree misapplication of entrusted property, the prosecutor's office said.
A prosecutor's office investigation allegedly revealed Edelson, 47, did not properly disperse more than $200,000 in monies held in escrow accounts for 15 different real estate closings, authorities charged.
Edelson had been a lawyer but On Sept. 27, 2006, the state Supreme Court ordered Edelson disbarred.
Along with that penalty, the prosecutor's office noted, the New Jersey Lawyer's Fund for Client Protection paid in excess of $170,000 in claims.
Edelson surrendered to detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and Superior Court Judge Bette E. Uhrmacher set Edelson's bail at $30,000 with a 10 percent option. If convicted, according to authorities, Edelson could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
"Edelson violated the fiduciary duty he owed his clients," Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin said by way of a released statement; and because of his alleged acts, "He now faces serious criminal charges," Valentin said in his May 5 release.
