NJ: Brick lawyer stole $1.2 million from elderly

A Brick attorney who has long served as an advocate for the elderly and held himself out as an expert on elder law has been charged with stealing more than $1.2 million from elderly clients, authorities say.

Robert Novy, 65, whose office is in Manchester, was arrested on charges of first-degree money laundering, second-degree theft by unlawful taking, and second-degree misapplication of entrusted property, according to a statement from the Office of Attorney General Christopher Porrino. He was taken to Ocean County jail with bail set at $500,000.

“While Novy held himself out as a leading legal advocate for the elderly, we allege that he corruptly used his reputation and his law license to prey on vulnerable seniors, taking control of their finances and stealing more than $1 million from their life savings.” Porrino said in the statement. “In his greed, Novy not only betrayed his oath as a lawyer to uphold the law, he betrayed all standards of decency.”

Many of the victims were people without close relatives or were of diminished capacity, Porrino's office said.

Gerald Krovatin, Novy's attorney, said his client had done nothing wrong.

"Bob Novy has had a distinguished career as an attorney and has helped many people over his 40 years in practice in elder law,"Krovatin said. "He denies these charges and he will fight them with every bone in his body.”

Novy spoke about elder law on “Inside the Law,” a radio program on WOBM-AM – the station’s website shows he covered topics such as estate planning, wills, powers of attorney, Medicaid, real estate settlements and asset protection. In an episode in May 2015, Novy interviewed a sergeant with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office about scams targeting seniors. (Click to Continue)

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NJ: Brick lawyer stole $1.2 million from elderly