Mitchell Kossoff Plans to Plead Guilty and Surrender to Manhattan District Attorney
By Nicholas Rizzi November 23, 2021 5:39 pm
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Real estate lawyer Mitchell Kossoff, who pulled a vanishing act in April, plans to plead guilty and turn himself in to authorities, court records show.
Kossoff reached an agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to enter a guilty plea for unspecified charges and surrender himself to be arrested on Dec. 3, Law360 first reported.
The DA’s office filed a letter in bankruptcy court on Tuesday to extend the bankruptcy case for Kossoff’s eponymous law firm while his criminal proceedings shake out, court records show.
Kossoff’s lawyer, Walter Mack, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the DA also did not respond.
Kossoff, who represented some of New York City’s largest multifamily landlords, went missing in April, with his clients and partners in his law firm unable to reach him for weeks. He was hit with a string of lawsuits for more than $8 million in missing escrow funds, and his firm was forced into bankruptcy.
The DA later launched an investigation into Kossoff to see if he misused clients’ funds. The trustee handling the bankruptcy proceedings asked a judge earlier this month to hold Kossoff in civil contempt after Kossoff allegedly refused to comply with court orders for records, Reuters reported.
But the trustee and his clients aren’t the only ones accusing Kossoff of wrongdoing. His mother, Phyllis Kossoff, claimed in court records that her son forged her signature on more than $2 million of defaulted loans.
Nicholas Rizzi can be reached at nrizzi@commercialobserver.com.
