Joseph E. Leskovitz Sentenced in $154K Bank Embezzlement

Joseph E. Leskovitz, 53, of Lenox, Mass., has been sentenced to 22 months in federal prison for stealing more than $150,000 from Lenox National Bank, where he served as vice president for years. The crime, a betrayal of trust spanning nearly five years, involved siphoning funds from client certificates of deposit and forging loans in a family member’s name without consent.

On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni handed down the sentence in Springfield, ordering 22 months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release. Leskovitz was also hit with a restitution order of $154,783 — the full amount he stole from the institution he was sworn to protect.

Between 2009 and February 2014, Leskovitz exploited his authority over trust accounts and financial instruments, quietly draining deposits meant to secure clients’ futures. Among the most brazen acts: opening a loan under a relative’s name, then pocketing the proceeds. The bank, later acquired by Adams Community Bank in 2015, discovered irregularities during a routine audit that eventually unraveled his scheme.

In July 2016, Leskovitz pleaded guilty to three counts of embezzlement of bank funds and one count of money laundering — charges that carry serious weight under federal law. His position as a trusted financial officer made the crime not just illegal, but a violation of the fiduciary duty expected at the highest levels of banking.

The case was announced by United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Division. Prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen L. Goodwin from Ortiz’s Springfield Branch Office, who built a case rooted in financial forensics and paper trails.

While no physical violence was used, the damage done by Leskovitz’s actions cuts deep into the foundation of financial trust. The sentence sends a message: even white-collar betrayal in small-town banks won’t escape federal justice.