The founder of a high-profile Manhattan law firm – and close friend of retired Giant Michael Strahan – has been arrested in Canada on charges of criminal impersonation, The Post has learned.
The powerful white-shoe lawyer, Marc Dreier, 58, was arrested on Wednesday and is cooling his heels in a grimy jail cell just west of Toronto.
“He is in provincial custody in Maplehurst Correctional Complex,” said an employee at the Ontario pokey.
His bust stems from his alleged role in a multimillion fraud case, a source told The Post.
A detective for the Toronto Police Department confirmed Dreier’s arrest but said he couldn’t provide specific details about the nature of the criminal impersonation charges because the investigation was still ongoing.
However, sources told the legal blog Above the Law that the Harvard Law alum’s alleged offense concerned financial improprieties and that future charges could include money laundering and misuse of escrow funds.
The Ontario Teachers Pension Fund and Fortress Investment Group could be involved in some way, the blog reported.
Dreier’s brush with the wrong side of the law apparently put the kibosh on his company’s Christmas party, which was supposed to be held last night at The Waldorf-Astoria hotel.
Brass at the 250-lawyer firm, Dreier LLP, booked the hotel’s pricey Starlight roof for their Yuletide Celebration, but a Post reporter found the hall on the 18th floor completely empty last night, with chairs stacked against the wall.
Over the years, Dreier – who set up The Michael Strahan Foundation to help disadvantaged kids – has been hit with hundreds of thousands of dollars in judgments and tax liens.
They include a $622,000 IRS judgment on an East 58th Street apartment that he owned, and a $98,000 federal tax lien on a Southampton property, according to public records.
When The Post called the law firm’s spokeswoman, Amy Greenfield, for comment, a man who identified himself as her husband refused to put her on the phone.
“She is perfectly aware of what the situation is and she doesn’t want to talk to anyone,” he said.
A doorman at Dreier’s plush East 58th Street high-rise building – which is not the property involved in the IRS judgment – said the lawyer hadn’t been there all week.
It’s a sad turn of events for the prominent lawyer, who sponsors an annual star-studded gold tournament with Strahan that raises hundreds of thousands for kids’ charities.
Alicia Keyes sang at the 2008 tournament, and Jon Bon Jovi and Diana Ross performed in prior years.
Additional reporting by Candace Amos and Jeane MacIntosh