DA: Accountant Indicted For $1.5 Million Defrauding Case

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The Manhattan District Attorney announced on Thursday the indictment and arraignment of an accountant who stole $1.48 million from two clients.

Joseph Cilibrasi, 50, and his accounting business, Cilibrasi & Associates, each face charges of grand larceny, falsifying business records and scheme to defraud, all in the first degree. He and his business also face a charge of grand larceny in the second degree, according to the DA's office.

"This defendant ingratiated himself to his victims and gained their trust over a period of many years in order [to] commit the crimes he is charges with," District Attorney Cyrus Vance said. "Using money that he was not rightfully entitled to, Joseph Cilibrasi tried to emulate the lives of the clients he was hired to serve."

His two victims, according to the DA's office, are actress Tamara Tunie, of Law & Order: SVU, and conductor Michael Stern, music director of the Kansas City Symphony.

Between January 2002 and September 2010, Cilibrasi stole more than $1.4 million from Tunie and $75,000 from Stern, according to the DA's office.

Class B felony charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, class C felony charges are punishable by up to 15 years and class E felonies are punishable by up to four years in prison.