A Far Rockaway man has been sentenced to six months in jail for swiping in excess of $650,000 from the estates of a pair of Queens sisters who died in 2013 and 2-14, according to Queens DA Richard Brown.
Joshua Stephens-Anselm, 28, a former bank employee used his position for personal gain, heartlessly stealing money from the personal bank accounts of the two deceased elderly women and used the funds to pay personal expenses such as rent, credit card bills for friends and outings at restaurants and bars, according to Brown. In October 2018, Stephens-Anselm pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gia Morris.
On Tuesday, Jan. 8, Justice Bruna DiBiase sentenced the defendant to six months in jail.
From June 2016 to July 2017, the defendant swindled money from the estates of Edith Thompson and her sister Marjorie Thompson, according to the charges. Prior to their deaths, the women opened bank accounts at JP Morgan Chase where the defendant worked as a private client banker.
Shortly after their deaths, an appointed estate administrator contacted JP Morgan Chase to determine the whereabouts of large sums of money transferred from the sisters’ accounts. Upon further investigation. It was determined that defendant Stephens-Anselm issued checks to his personal account totaling $590,000 from Marjorie Thompson’s estate and an additional $70.000 from Edith Thompson’s estate. To readily access the money, the defendant set up a mobile pay app on his phone to make electronic payments.
“The defendant used his position as a trusted bank employee for personal gain,” Brown said. “He heartlessly stole money from the personal bank accounts of two deceased elderly women and used the funds to pay personal expenses such as rent, credit card bills for friends.”
