A Boston attorney, already suspended from practice in Massachusetts, was arraigned today on charges he stole the identity of a business partner and nearly $50,000 from a client.
According to prosecutors, Wassem Amin, age 31, operated a law practice called Amin Legal Group and on February 11, a former law school classmate joined the firm, providing his personal information in order to be added to the firm’s corporate bank accounts. Amin allegedly used the victim’s identity to open an account through Bank of America, listing the victim as the primary account holder and guarantor. The victim later received five American Express credit cards on which he was also listed as the primary account holder and guarantor; two of those cards were issued under Amin’s name. The victim did not provide authorization for either account, prosecutors said. The victim also received an Amazon credit card that was likewise issued under his identity without his knowledge or permission.
Amin was hired by a client to assist in the launch of a business. On April 28, the victim had $49,980 wired into a corporate bank account held by Amin’s firm, which was intended to be transferred into a bank account that Amin claimed he had set up in the name of the victim’s new company. An investigation by Boston Police revealed that the money was instead transferred into Amin’s personal bank account and used for his own expenses. After repeated demands that the money be returned, on May 31 Amin issued a check to the victim from a bank account that had been closed two months earlier. The victim’s bank account was frozen when the bad check was returned.
Boston Municipal Court Judge Thomas Kaplanes ordered Amin held on a combined $70,000 cash bail. Kaplanes ordered that Amin wear a GPS monitor and stay away from the victims.
