A Rockville attorney pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court to theft and fiduciary misappropriation charges stemming from three fraud schemes that affected 21 victims and resulted in losses of over $4.2 million.
The defendant faces up to 15 years in jail under the plea agreement, with sentencing set for May 28, 2026.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the Honorable John Maloney, defendant Sari Kurland, a.k.a. Sari Bloch, 64, of Rockville, pleaded guilty to one count of theft scheme over $100,000 and fifteen counts of misappropriation by a fiduciary.” The plea hearing was held on Friday, January 9, 2026. Kurland faces up to 15 years in jail under the plea agreement. The sentence hearing for Ku is planned on May 28, 2026, at 9 a.m. and held an active law license in Maryland until January 26, 2024, and worked out of a Rockville office. The State’s Attorney’s Office discovered that between May 2022 and September 2024, Kurland engaged in three fraudulent schemes involving theft and misuse of funds. The three scams involved 21 victims and a total loss of $4,216,656.50.
Scheme details:
- In the first scheme, Kurland solicited loans to facilitate a so called Middle Eastern petroleum deal. This scheme involved 18 victims. Most of the deals included at least one promissory note that promised incredible returns for very short-term loans, often one month or less. Repayments were often supposed to be predicated on closure of the sale of petroleum overseas. Instead, the money was wired to an overseas account. None of the victims ever received the proceeds as promised, despite repeated requests to return their funds.
- The second scheme involved two victims and cryptocurrency transactions in which Kurland was to hold funds in her attorney escrow account to facilitate the transactions, and the funds were to be returned upon the closing of the deals. However, the investigation revealed that Kurland used the funds for other purposes.
- The third scheme involved one victim who signed a retainer agreement with Kurland. The victim had struggled to maintain his business during the COVID-19 pandemic and was not able to fulfill several of his customers’ contracts. He hired Kurland to assist him with filing bankruptcy, and she convinced him to work out settlements with the customers instead. The victim gave Kurland approximately $150,000 to be used for negotiating settlements with seven former clients. Only two payments, totaling $34,600 were made. The majority of the funds were co-mingled in Kurland’s Attorney Trust Account and disbursed to other parties unrelated to the victim.
Assistant State’s Attorneys Robert Hill and John Lalos are prosecuting this case.
Leave a Reply