By Jeff Blumenthal – Philadelphia Business Journal
A former South Jersey lawyer was sentenced to 18 years in prison for money laundering as part of a multi-year scheme to embezzle more than $13 million from his clients, federal prosecutors in New Jersey said Friday.
Michael Kwasnik, 51, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden federal court to information charging him with money laundering. Kugler imposed the sentence Friday by videoconference. In addition to the prison term, Judge Kugler sentenced Kwasnik to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $11.7 million in restitution.
On Wednesday, Kugler denied a motion from Kwasnik to rescind his guilty plea. He claimed he was pressured by family to resolve the matter. He was originally indicted in the scheme on Feb. 16, 2017 and pleaded guilty two years ago. Kwasnik agreed to be disbarred last year.
Kwasnik was previously a partner with Kwasnik Rodio Kanowitz & Buckley and its successor firm, Kwasnik Kanowitz & Associates, which had offices in Cherry Hill and Philadelphia. Federal prosecutors said Kwasnik specialized in estate and financial planning and used his position as a lawyer to convince his clients to open irrevocable family trusts to hold the client’s money and provide the client an opportunity to earn interest on their funds.
Prosecutors said he advised potential clients that estate planning was necessary to protect assets from federal and state taxes. As part of the estate planning, prosecutors said Kwasnik established various trusts, typically irrevocable family trusts for clients with Kwasnik named as the trustee. For each trust, an Employer Identification Number (EIN) was obtained and a bank account in the name of the trust was opened at TD Bank, prosecutors said. As trustee, prosecutors said Kwasnik had signature authority on the bank accounts
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