May 23, 2026
A Brooklyn judge who resigned in January while under investigation by New York’s Commission on Judicial Conduct has now been formally charged with defrauding investors of millions of dollars in an alleged real estate scheme.
Edward Harold King, formerly a Kings County Supreme Court Justice, was arrested by IRS agents on May 13, along with his alleged conspirator, Brooklyn real estate investor Sam Sprei and charged with wire fraud conspiracy.
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In announcing the charges, Joseph Nocella Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said, “As alleged, the defendants stole millions of dollars from investors by cynically leveraging King’s position as a sitting judge to lend false legitimacy to supposed investment opportunities.”
Money given, money kept
Court filings show that King and Sprei, who has reportedly already been involved in civil law suits, allegedly worked together to defraud investors whom they presented with the opportunity to buy commercial property in Freehold, New Jersey. Per the charges, King and Sprei told investors they needed to show “proof of liquidity” by depositing funds in an escrow account.
Federal prosecutors say King and Sprei also told these investors they could pull out of the deal at any time. Instead, after two investors reportedly wired $6.5 million into the account, a portion of these funds were, per the filings, funnelled into a bank account under Sprei’s name.
When the investors asked for their money back, King, who was allegedly acting as a lawyer in this deal — even though sitting judges are barred from such activities — gave excuses as to why the funds couldn’t be returned, the filings say. Eventually, $1.5 million was returned to the investors, but the rest remains outstanding, per the charges.
“Fraud that hides behind a veneer of legitimacy — especially the authority of a judge — strikes at the heart of public trust,” said Harry T. Chavis Jr., special agent in charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New York, in a statement.
Both King and Sprei declined to comment after their initial hearings. None of these allegations have been proved in a court of law.
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A spotty history?
In an opinion piece following the arrests, the New York Daily News calls out the incident as a failure among multiple parties, going back to when King moved from being a private lawyer to the Civil Court to the New York Supreme Court. The News claims that, when King became a candidate for Civil Court in 2022, he failed to file the mandatory personal finance disclosures or to complete the required campaign ethics education program.
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They also note that, after just a year and a half as a Civil Court judge, King was rushed into an interim justice position on the Brooklyn State Supreme Court. He served as a justice from June 2024 until his resignation.
King, who is 72, also reportedly filed to get past the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70 for the state. Before his Civil Court appointment, King worked for more than three decades in civil law practice — including in property, landlord/tenant and bankruptcy cases.
Protect yourself from real estate fraud
This alleged real estate fraud is just one more case in a rising number. The FBI reports that, in 2025, losses from real estate fraud in the U.S. totaled around $275 million, up from approximately $173 million the year before.
Reported incidents, which were over 12,000 for the year, included the case of homebuyers closing on a property and receiving an email impersonating their attorneys — then wiring close to $450,000 to the fraudsters.
Being a victim of fraud of any kind — including real estate — is scary to consider, but there are steps you can take to protect yourself. Here are several:
- Be aware of high-pressure tactics: Fraudsters will often project an air of urgency, telling you that you need to “act now” to secure a great deal, or the opportunity will be lost forever. Be wary of any real estate agent or anyone else who is trying to pressure you to part with your money quickly. Smart deals can take time to research and close — don’t fall for the speed trap.
- Don’t believe promises that sound too good to be true: Just as with urgency tactics, fraudsters may try to give the impression that big money is yours to have as long as you sign on the dotted line (and wire your money over, of course). If the returns you’ve been promised on any deal sound amazing, or the terms seem unusually beneficial, they just might be too good to be real.
- Be alert to evasive answers to important questions: In any kind of financial transaction, it’s completely normal for you to have plenty of critical questions and to expect reasonable answers to them. If the people you are working with on any kind of deal answer your questions in a wishy-washy way or just keep telling you not to concern yourself with certain details, be wary.
- Look out for a change in wiring routes: If you are told to wire your money to a different account than what you were originally told, this could be a big problem.
- Be suspicious of a lack of paperwork: Everyone may hate doing paperwork, but it’s usually a key part of any kind of financial transaction, particularly in real estate. If you are noticing a strange lack of it, there may be something off.
- Do your due diligence: Make sure you research anyone you are going to be working with on a real estate or other kind of financial deal. If they have any kind of criminal or civil court record, you should be able to find out. Avoiding fraudsters before you ever even engage with them could save you a whole lot of pain later.
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Rebecca specializes in business, economics and personal finance content. She has worked on consumer-facing and B2B content, including personal finance articles, articles on behavioral economics, trade publication content for financial advisors and white papers for philanthropic organizations.
