Jersey City Attorney Sentenced to 66 Months for $2M Wire Fraud Scheme

A Jersey City attorney has been sentenced to 66 months in prison for defrauding his clients out of more than $2 million dollars.

James R. Lisa, 68, a resident of Jersey City, was sentenced yesterday in Newark federal court for his role in a wire fraud scheme that spanned over a decade.

According to documents filed in the case, Lisa was retained by a family in 2014 to help repatriate millions of dollars that had been transferred by other family members to offshore bank accounts decades earlier. However, instead of returning the funds to the family, Lisa falsely advised them that the money remained offshore, and then proceeded to keep the funds for himself.

Lisa’s scheme continued for several years, with him sending the family fraudulent IRS closing agreements and false documents to support his claims. He even went so far as to pose as his own lawyer in April 2023, sending a bogus letter to a lender in an attempt to secure a $22,000 loan.

Lisa also admitted to failing to file individual income tax returns for tax years 2015 through 2022, resulting in a tax loss of at least $550,000 to the IRS.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger praised the sentence, saying, ‘James Lisa used his law license to execute a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme and rip off clients who placed their trust in him.’

Lisa was sentenced to 66 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $2.05 million in restitution to his victims and $550,000 to the IRS.

The case was investigated by special agents with the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), and was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

Lisa’s crimes were a betrayal of his clients’ trust and a serious violation of his oath as an officer of the court.

His sentence serves as a reminder that those who abuse their positions of power and trust will be held accountable for their actions.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey commends the efforts of the investigators and prosecutors who worked on this case, and praises the sentence imposed by Judge Julien X. Neals.

Jersey City attorney James Lisa’s 66-month prison sentence is a fitting punishment for his crimes, and a reminder that those who abuse their positions of power will be held accountable.

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