The investors put $6.5 million into an account belonging to King, who then transferred the funds to Sprei, the government claims. When they asked for their money back, King and Sprei returned just $1.5 million, keeping the remaining sum for themselves.<\/p>\n
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Wang said in court Wednesday this is \u201cone of multiple schemes the government has been investigating\u201d against the two defendants.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs alleged, the defendants stole millions of dollars from investors by cynically leveraging King\u2019s position as a sitting judge to lend false legitimacy to supposed investment opportunities,\u201d Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Harry Chavis, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York, said in a statement the duo\u2019s accused conduct \u201cstrikes at the heart of public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s arrests send a clear message: Schemes dressed up as opportunity will not shield wrongdoers from accountability,\u201d Chavis said.<\/p>\n
Sitting judges are barred from practicing law \u2014 including by serving as escrow agents. King resigned earlier this year amid a probe by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which notified him in late 2025 that he was being investigated for \u201cvarious complaints against him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Per a January press release<\/a> from the commission, King was being probed on claims he \u201cwas participating in a scheme to defraud investors and business ventures by improperly receiving escrow funds as an unauthorized party, refusing to return funds deposited into his attorney escrow accounts and transferring funds to unauthorized parties.\u201d<\/p>\n King denied the accusations at the time. Previously serving as a judge on the New York City Civil Court in Kings County, King was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court in June 2024. He retired on Dec. 31, 2025, and agreed never to seek judicial office in the future, pursuant to the ethics probe.<\/p>\n He is also named as a defendant in numerous civil lawsuits, in which he is accused of defrauding investors in a similar fashion to the tune of more than $11 million in total.<\/p>\n King was released Wednesday on a $250,000 bond. Sprei, who federal prosecutors said has access to \u201csubstantial\u201d financial resources, was released on a heftier bond of $500,000 with a GPS ankle monitor.<\/p>\n In a white Henley shirt and black pants, King shook his head at the defense table as Magistrate Judge Clay Kaminsky read the judge-turned-defendant his rights.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have the right to remain silent,\u201d Kaminsky told the former jurist.<\/p>\n Neither man, nor their lawyers, commented when leaving court.<\/p>\n The two defendants have thus far only been charged with a criminal complaint, not an indictment, meaning they did not have to enter a plea on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing
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