By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — An accountant who allegedly invested in "Spring Awakening" and the "Legally Blonde" musical with stolen funds was indicted on charges he allegedly stole almost $1.5 million from a "Law and Order" actress who was his client, prosecutors said Thursday.
Joseph Cilibrasi, 50, routinely stole from Tamara Tunie, prosecutors said, who plays a medical examiner on the hit "Law and Order: SVU" series and has been on the show for a decade.
While working as the actress' business manager since the early 1990s, Cilibrasi was responsible for preparing her tax returns and paying her professional and personal bills, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
But he began defrauding her in 2003 by falsely endorsing checks from her accounts to his own, prosecutors said. He allegedly converted about $400,000 of the sum he stole from her into cash, which he used to invest in various projects.
He also opened credit accounts in her name and gave himself authority to use her cards. He even falsely claimed he was her husband in order to gain access, prosecutors said.
Through Cilibrasi and Associates, his one-man accounting firm, Cilibrasi used the stolen funds to invest in "Spring Awakening," "Legally Blonde: the Musical," and the film "See You In September," according to the allegations. He also allegedly took trips to Los Angeles, Italy and Puerto Rico and paid for his own business expenses with Tunie's money.
"This is a case about a man so desperate for celebrity that he ripped off his entertainment industry clients in an effort to become like them," Assistant District Attorney Peirce Moser said at the Cilibrasi's arraignment Thursday.
Cilibrasi was also charged with allegedly scamming Michael Stern, son of famous violinist Issac Stern.
Cilibrasi, who worked out of his loft apartment and office on West 24th Street, pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, falsifying records and other charges at his Manhattan Supreme Court arraignment on Thursday.
In 2004, he pleaded guilty to stealing from another client, Robin Frank Management, from which he stole $39,000.
His lawyer, JaneAnne Murray, said Cilibrasi "vigorously asserts his innocence" and intended to fight the charges.
Tunie, 51, has filed a lawsuit alleging fraud against Cilibrasi, Murray told the judge.
He was aggressively fighting those charges because all of the allegedly improper payments had been authorized, Murray said.
"This is essentially a civil action that has been criminalized," the lawyer added.
He was held on $100,000 bail immediately after his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday. His lawyer said he would likely post his father's property in Brooklyn to secure his release.
