NYC huckster steals a cool $6 million from clients

FWR Staff

5 September 2007

Queens-based ne'er-do-well Mo Rafikian pretended to be a lawyer and an RIA. Mohammed Rafikian, alias Mo Kian, has been convicted of stealing a total of $6 million from eight clients while pretending to be an RIA and an attorney. He defended himself at trial.

Rafikian, chairman and CEO of Astoria, N.Y.-based First Investors Capital Corporation impersonated the named partner of Marcus & Associates, a law firm where he occasionally worked as a paralegal.

Hard time

Astoria is a section of the New York borough of Queens.

"Evidence presented at trial showed that the defendant engaged in very risky day trading of stocks and ran up negative balances of as much as $6 million in his accounts," says Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. "Needing to find a way to cover his losses, the defendant took over the law practice of an attorney who had become suddenly ill and misrepresented himself as an attorney."

In the guise of an attorney and an investment advisor, Rafikian pledged various things to various people. He promised one of his victims a return of 26% on an investment of $3.2 million -- and though he remitted two checks with combined face value of about $150,000, the checks bounced. He took $900,000 from another victim -- supposedly to purchase a building in Astoria on the victim's behalf -- and pocketed the money. He bilked another victim out of $816,000 in another phony real-estate transaction.

Rafikian was convicted of one count of first degree grand larceny, seven counts of second-degree grand larceny, three counts of first-degree scheme to defraud, eight counts of second-degree criminal impersonation and four counts of practicing or appearing as an attorney-at-law without being admitted to the bar.

He is being held without bail. When he is sentenced on 21 September 2007, he could get 130 years in prison. -FWR

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