An attorney who was employed at the law firm of Maneri and Moroules surrendered to Fairfield, New Jersey police on Tuesday. The attorney, George S. Cummings, was accused of taking $40,000 from his firm by altering checks. The police had been investigating the attorney and the firm for four months prior to Cummings turning himself into authorities. Cummings reportedly altered checks and then cashed them. Those checks were supposed to go to the law firm, according to Fairfield Deputy Chief Anthony Manna.
Cummings is not employed at the law firm anymore. Police said that he had altered seven checks that were written by a titling company from New York. The seven checks totaled $40,000. Cummings altered the checks to make them appear as if they were written out to him. Police officers were not able to recover the money for the law firm. Manna said that Cummings seemed to be involved in the scheme for at least one year.
“The investigation revealed that at no time did Cummings’ alleged activities directly or indirectly involve the clients of the law firm,” Manna said. “In fact, this case was solved as a direct result of the cooperation of the partners of the firm.”
Cummings has been charged with six counts of falsifying a written record and seven counts of fraud. There is a court hearing scheduled for Cummings in Superior Court in Newark for August 8. The case was also sent to the New Jersey office of Attorney Ethics.