New York Attorney Sentenced to 78 Months for $18.8 Million IOLA Ponzi Scheme

Published Nov. 6, 2026. Case status is current as of that date.

Law-firm trust accounts are not supposed to become a private investment float. On Feb. 15, 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced that attorney Robert Wisnicki had been sentenced to 78 months in prison for operating an $18.8 million Ponzi scheme through his New York law firms and for a separate money-laundering conspiracy tied to a healthcare fraud scheme [1].

Status: Wisnicki pleaded guilty Sept. 18, 2023, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering before U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe, who imposed the sentence [1].

How the Ponzi worked, according to court proceedings

According to public documents and court statements summarized by prosecutors [1]:

1. Wisnicki's firms specialized in real estate transactions. Starting about 2007 he ran a real estate investment business using the firms; investor clients left funds with him, including in IOLA trust accounts.
2. When investments lost money, instead of telling clients, he used other clients' trust funds from the firms' IOLA accounts to mask losses and made false representations to investor clients.

The release also describes a separate conspiracy to launder proceeds of a healthcare fraud scheme, plus obstruction and perjury conduct referenced in the sentencing announcement title [1].

The person sentenced

Robert Wisnicki. New York attorney (Wisnicki & Associates LLP; Wisnicki Neuhauser LLP). Pleaded guilty; sentenced to 78 months [1].

Case status (as of Nov. 6, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status	Source
Robert Wisnicki	U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. (Judge Paul G. Gardephe)	Pleaded guilty Sept. 18, 2023; sentenced Feb. 15, 2024 to 78 months	[1]

Statuses can change, including through appeal.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, "Attorney Sentenced To 78 Months In Prison For Operating $18.8 Million Ponzi Scheme, Money Laundering, Obstruction Of Justice, And Perjury," Feb. 15, 2024. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/attorney-sentenced-78-months-prison-operating-188-million-ponzi-scheme-money