A crooked Brooklyn bookkeeper convicted of stealing $2.6 million from the estates of people who died without wills expressed remorse Thursday for his crime before a judge sentenced him to six to 18 years in prison.
“I’m sorry,” said Richard Paul, 36, who once worked as a clerk for the Kings County Public Administrator’s Office. “Nothing compares to the shame I feel today.”
Paul pocketed millions of dollars intended for the city’s treasury by forging his agency’s checks.
He and cohort Taryn Miller were convicted by a Manhattan Supreme Court jury last Nov. 13 on the top charge of grand larceny for diverting cash from the estates of seven people.
The public administrator oversees the estates of people who die without wills, and if no relatives claim the funds, the assets are transferred to the city Department of Finance.
Paul, who oversaw the process as a clerk for the public administrator, manipulated the checks to enrich himself and his pals between 2008 and November 2011.
He issued $600,000 worth of forged checks to one accomplice who worked as a city correction officer.
Two other cohorts previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme.