YOU HIT THE JERKPOT
‘Lottery Lawyer’ charged in $80M swindle
Lottery plays that started with a dollar and a dream ended up lining the pockets of a crooked Long Island lawyer and his mob-connected associates, federal prosecutors say.
Jason “Jay” Kurland — who billed himself as the “Lottery Lawyer” — was charged Tuesday with scamming jackpot winners out of millions of dollars in a scheme that prosecutors said involved members of the notorious Genovese crime family.
Kurland faces charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering after his clients lost more than $80 million in a kickback scheme that encouraged the winners to invest in businesses run by a reputed mobster and his associates, the feds say.
Kurland, 45, also grabbed his clients’ winnings by charging upfront fees between $75,000 and $200,000 to safeguard them, say papers in Long Island Federal Court.
The victims included a $1.5 billion Mega Millions lottery winner and another who cashed in on a $245 million Powerball jackpot.
On his personal website — which had been taken down by Tuesday — Kurland said he invested money from a $1.5 billion jackpot won in South Carolina, and a $245.6 million jackpot won in New York.
“The biggest mistake people make is doing it on their own,” Kurland said in promotional material.
He also boasted on his website of his news media connections. “The national news media calls me when the jackpot stakes are high … I have been quoted by hundreds of news outlets on what jackpot winners should do,” he wrote, according to a Google cache of the site.
“I use my legal experience to protect my lottery clients’ money, whether by helping them create trusts for their winnings or helping them invest in real estate,” the page said.
Kurland, prosecutors said, won his clients’ trust by getting them into traditional investments and then convincing them to invest in smaller companies, including one which sold protective equipment to the state of California and the NYPD during the pandemic.
The dubious deals in which Kurland invested lottery winners’ money involved entities run by Christopher Chierchio, described in court papers as a Genovese family soldier. A former securities broker, Frank Smookler, and Frankie Russo were named as coconspirators.
Prosecutors said Kurland received kickbacks for steering his clients in their direction.
Kurland told the clients he would help them invest their winnings wisely.
Instead, he funneled their money to entities run by Chierchio, Smookler and Russo, officials said. They all “profited handsomely,” prosecutors wrote in court filings, “fueling lavish lifestyles that included flying private jets, taking exotic vacations, buying boats, paying country club dues and even ‘wrapping’ luxury cars.”
In one deal, they invested $2.5 million in a PPE company called Azimut that had a deal with the NYPD. On May 20, the NYPD deposited $1.7 million in one account. The next day, Smookler and Russo took $110,000 each from that account.
By Aug. 14, Azimut had $33,823 remaining despite having received a total of $22 million from the lottery victims.
In another deal, the group invested some of the lottery victims’ money with Gregory Altieri, a jewelry merchant — to whom they also extended a $250,000 “street loan,” the feds said.
Russo and Smookler expected Altieri to pay them back $400,000 for the $250,000 loan — and threatened violence if he didn’t get them the cash they wanted, the feds said.
In recorded conversations, federal prosecutors said, Russo informed Altieri that he had a “few tactical shotguns … with lasers.” Also, the government said, Smookler told Altieri that if he did not fully repay the loan, “it’s just going to be unbelievable.”
“[W]e are gonna find your wife today. That’s happening,” Smookler was said to have told Altieri.
Kurland’s defense attorney declined to comment on the indictment.
His law firm, Rivkin Radler, said it had been “taken by complete surprise” by the charges and is cooperating with the federal investigation.
Kurland was freed on $1 million bond at arraignment Tuesday. Chierchio was freed on a $3 million bond, and Smookler was freed on a $2.5 million bond. A judge set bond of $2 million for Russo, which the government is appealing.