Former lawyer pleads guilty to embezzlement

HARTFORD » A former New Haven bankruptcy lawyer has pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzlement charges after admitting to embezzling millions of dollars from clients.

Peter Ressler, 70, of Woodbridge, appeared in U.S. District Court in Hartford Wednesday to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud, two counts of embezzlement from a bankruptcy estate and one count of bankruptcy fraud.

The former bankruptcy lawyer faces up to 35 years in prison for the charges and he could be forced to pay a fine of up to $6.8 million, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

The affidavit in Ressler’s case alleges that close to $800,000 of entrusted funds from two clients had been used by Ressler for things other than on behalf of those clients. The two clients named in the affidavit were 329 Green Street LLC and Eternal Enterprises.

The affidavit states Ressler admitted to federal prosecutors that he had embezzled money from those two clients and allegedly also embezzled money from other clients not named in the affidavit.

Ressler resigned from the Connecticut bar in March, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. He is currently free on $100,000 bail, according to court documents.

The U.S. attorney’s office provided more information about Ressler’s case in a release Wednesday following the plea.

According to the release, the total funds embezzled reached into the millions, after he took retainers from at least 30 clients and used those for other expenses rather than putting them in trusts, as promised.

There were at least 10 businesses that entrusted Ressler with hundreds of thousands of dollars as they struggled with Chapter 11 reorganizations and Ressler used those monies for his own purposes, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Prosecutors allege that at least $3.4 million was taken by Ressler from clients and used for personal and family expenses or to run his practice, the release said.