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Stephens-Anselm was formerly employed by JP Morgan Chase as a private client banker.
By Forum Staff
A Far Rockaway man who worked as a private client banker for JP Morgan Chase has copped to stealing more than $650,000 from the estates of two borough sisters who died in 2013 and 2014, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Joshua Stephens-Anselm, 28, pleaded guilty last week to second-degree grand larceny. The judge has indicated that she would sentence Stephens-Anselm to six months in jail at sentencing on Jan. 7. Stephens-Anselm was also ordered to sign a confession of judgment in the amount of $662,465.91.
According to the charges, between June 2016 and July 2017, Stephens-Anselm funneled money from the estates of Edith Thompson, who died in December 2013, and her sister Marjorie Thompson, who passed away in November 2014. The bank accounts were set up at JP Morgan Chase. Stephens-Anselm began siphoning money by issuing checks to himself from the sisters’ accounts and eventually set up an app on his mobile phone to make electronic payments.
Stephens-Anselm began to pay his living expenses using money from the accounts. He paid his rent, utilities and cable bills and eventually used the funds to pay for trips and hotel stays. Stephens-Anselm even paid off a friends’ Victoria’s Secret credit card.
According to the complaint, a forensic examination of the two estates showed more than $590,000 was stolen from the estate of Marjorie Thompson and another $70,000 taken from the estate of Edith Thompson. Both accounts have been reimbursed in full by JP Morgan Chase, Brown noted.
“In pleading guilty, the defendant has now admitted to taking advantage of his position as a trusted bank employee to dip into the accounts of two deceased sisters,” the district attorney added. “The defendant faces time behind bars as a result of his greed.”
