East Village & Lower East Side
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Crime & Mayhem

Compulsive Shopper Charged With Bilking Blind Widow for $1.6 Million

Sonja Sharp

By Sonja Sharp on May 1, 2012 9:10am

Handcuff

Flickr/cdogstar

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A Bronx man with a compulsive shopping problem was busted for bilking an elderly blind widow out of millions of dollars, prosecutors said.
Philip Leopold, 76, was arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday on charges he stole more than $1.6 million from an 85-year-old woman who he'd been helping with finances.
He is suspected of spending thousands of dollars on day-to-day expenses, student loans and life-insurance policies, while at the same time amassing a mind-boggling quantity of electronics and luxury goods he bought from QVC, the Home Shopping Network and other television retailers, prosecutors said.
In addition, Leopold is suspected of spending $63,000 to store household items including globes, figurines, clocks, vacuum cleaners, bedding, knifes and crockery. 
Defense attorney Howard Jaffe said his client is in poor health, but did not comment on the nature of his relationship with the victim, who helped him set up a trust held jointly in their names in 2002.
Leopold first met the elderly woman, who is hearing impaired and nearly blind, about 40 years ago, according to court records. 
"The conduct with which the defendant stands accused — preying upon an elderly victim by taking advantage of her age and health condition — is, sadly, not uncommon," District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement.
Leopold was jailed in lieu of $200,000 bond. 

Related Items

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