'Lottery lawyer' sentenced to 13 years in prison for defrauding lottery winners of $107 million
A self-described “lottery lawyer” who represented some of America’s biggest winners has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for defrauding clients out of $107 million.
Jason Kurland, 49, was convicted last July of wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and money laundering. He used his status as a trusted attorney to deceive clients into investing in companies he secretly owned, while accepting illegal "brokerage commissions" to arrange transactions.
Kurland has positioned himself as America's leading lottery legal expert and even owns URLlotterylawyer.com. His clients include the largest lottery winner in history, an anonymous man from South Carolina who won the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot in 2018.
Cheddar Capital
Curran's side business is a cash advance company called Cheddar Capital, whose partners include Frankie Russo, son of the late Colombo family leader Joseph "JoJo" Russo ).
In 2018, Kurland, Russo and the firm’s third partner, Frank Smookler, met with Long Island jeweler Greg Altieri.
Altieri told the trio he could buy the jewelry at "fire sale prices" and sell it for a 30 to 70 percent profit, but he needed money. Realizing this was a "sure-fire" money-making opportunity, Kurland convinced his lottery clients to invest approximately $80 million in the company.
The FBI arrested Altieri in 2020 on charges of running a massive Ponzi scheme. The three at Cheddar Capital panicked and began chasing their losses. As the pandemic swept the country, they met a company that wanted to supply personal protective equipment to California.
Kurland convinced an anonymous winner from South Carolina to invest $19.5 million in the program. When he was told he needed to double, he simply withdrew the remaining funds from a client bank account he controlled.
Bad Investment
The personal protective equipment company turned out to be another shady enterprise. The company was run by Christopher Chierchio, a prominent Genovese crime family soldier, and Courland never saw a return on his investment.
Last week, Quirchio was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. He was also ordered to pay $26.5 million in forfeiture and $30.5 million in restitution.
Courland is the only defendant in the case who has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued he was the victim of someone else. The jury disagreed.
Telemakos Kasulis, a lawyer representing Kurland, told The Associated Press that he disagreed with the decision and planned to appeal.
Prosecutors said the amount of restitution Kurland must withhold and pay will be determined within the next 90 days.
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Source: www.casino.org
