North Shore Lawyer Accused Of Witness Tampering Ahead Of Fraud Retrial

CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors indicted a North Shore attorney accused of tax fraud with a pair of new charges, alleging that he tried to corruptly influence the testimony of a witness at his trial.

Michael Abramson, 74, of Wilmette, was first indicted in October 2018 on more than a dozen counts of making false statements in corporate and individual tax returns. A superseding indictment filed this week tacks on two additional counts — witness tampering and contempt of court.

Federal prosecutors said he filed false paperwork with the IRS from 2013 to 2016, making more than $1 million in payments for personal expenses to the former stripper with whom he was having an extramarital romantic relationship.

According to the charges, Abramson lied when he characterized those payments as "commissions" or "loans" in tax returns an in the books of his companies, Leasing Employment Services Company and Eastern Advisors.

Abramson stood trial for the first time a year ago, but the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict and the judge declared a mistrial. A retrial was initially scheduled for Feb. 5 of this year.

"According to the government’s theory of the case, Abramson used his company—Eastern Advisors, Inc.—to funnel income to his girlfriend, Jerilyn Totani, both to hide their relationship from his wife and to avoid paying taxes on that income," said U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall.

"The government argued at trial that Abramson invented a sham story that Totani worked for Eastern Advisors," Kendall, in an order denying his request for an acquittal rather than a retrial. "The payments from Eastern Advisors to her were neither commissions that she had earned nor loans from the company."

Abramson's bookkeeper, who he allegedly directed to make the payments to his girlfriend, testified at his first trial on Feb. 1, 2023, records show.

According to the new charges, Abramson gave the bookkeeper a printed-out transcript of their testimony with handwritten notations, which included "purported facts" that contradicted the earlier sworn testimony, crossed-out answers and different answers to questions previously answered under oath.

After learning of the contact, prosecutors filed a motion to revoke Abramson's bond, forcing him to await trial from the custody of the U.S. Marshals. Kendall granted the motion, and she has also taken a separate motion to seize the cash Abramson put up for his bond under advisement, according to court records.

It was not the first time Abramson had allegedly violated the terms of his pretrial release. Prosecutors said he also spoke to the bookkeeper ahead of their testimony last year, and Toltani was recorded discussing an FBI report regarding a witness, indicating Abramson had violated the judge's protective order by sharing it with her.

Following the new charges, the scheduled start date for Abramson's retrial was pushed back to July 1.