Providence Attorney Pleads Guilty to Stealing City Pension of Dead Client for 12 Years
Tuesday, January 07, 2020
A former Providence attorney pleaded guilty to charges that he fraudulently collected more than a quarter of a million dollars in pension funds in the name of a former client for nearly 12 years after the man’s death, announced U.S. Attorney Aaron Weisman on Monday.
Oleg Nikolyszyn, 65, admitted that from December 2003 through September 2015, he collected monthly pension payments totaling $234,586 in the name of a former City of Providence employee and a member of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA).
Nikolyszyn is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24, 2020.
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The Investigation
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, in May of 2000, the former City of Providence employee hired Nikolyszyn as his attorney and executed a power of attorney that authorized Nikolyszyn to take certain acts on his behalf.
Those actions included receiving pension benefits owed him and signing and depositing checks payable to him.
Appearing on Friday before U.S. District Court Judge William Smith, Nikolyszyn admitted that he continued to receive monthly pension payments in his client’s name for nearly twelve years following the client’s death on November 12, 2003.
Nikolyszyn admitted to depositing the funds into a bank account in the name of both himself and his former client, and then converting the funds to his and his family’s personal use by transferring them into bank accounts he shared with his family.
Nikolyszyn admitted to collecting $173,597 in payments from the City of Providence Employee’s Retirement System and $60,989 from the LIUNA Pension Fund in the name of his former client.
Possible Punishment
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, mail fraud is punishable by statutory penalties of up to twenty years imprisonment; a fine of $250,000 or not more than twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss resulting from the offense; and a term of supervised release of three years.
Theft from an employee benefit pension fund is punishable by up to five years imprisonment; a fine of $250,000 or not more than twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss resulting from the offense; and a term of supervised release of three years.
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