Center City Lawyer Facing Federal Embezzlement Charges

A now-suspended Philadelphia attorney has been indicted on charges he ripped off his clients and his law firm.

KYW's Tony Hanson reports that a federal grand jury alleges that attorney Jeffrey Abramowitz stole clients' settlement money, cash he claimed would be held in escrow, and the firm's legal fees between 2005 and 2008.

Federal prosecutor Vineet Gauri:
"The notice of forfeiture attached to the indictment specifies the sum exceeding a million dollars, and also a 2008 BMW which is alleged to be traceable to the illegal proceeds of this scheme."

And the indictment alleges an unspecified amount of money went to a favored client -- a woman and her family.

Abramowitz, suspended by the state in 2009, had been active in the Philadelphia Bar Association, co-chairing an annual bike-a-thon for the American Cancer Society.

Abramowitz pleaded not guilty this afternoon and will be free on bail pending trial.