Ex-attorney pleads guilty to collecting client's pension
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A former Rhode Island attorney has pleaded guilty to fraudulently collecting more than $230,000 in pension payments in the name of a former client for nearly 12 years after the man’s death.
Oleg Nikolyszyn, 65, was hired and given power of attorney by the former Providence city employee in 2000, federal prosecutors said Monday.
The man died in 2003, but the pension payments continued to be deposited into a bank account in the name of Nikolyszyn and his former client until September 2015. He used the money for personal and family expenses, prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty on Friday to theft from an employee benefit pension fund and mail fraud.
He faces up to 25 years in prison at sentencing scheduled for April 24.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court suspended Nikolyszyn's right to practice law in the state in December 2016.