Luxury web scam nets man nearly $600K to live lavish lifestyle: court

BY Melissa Grace
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, August 15th 2011, 7:19 PM

Jefferson Siegel for News

Andrew Albert is charged with creating a phony luxury shopping website and robbing $600,000 from investors, that police said he used to fund a lavish lifestyle.

A Manhattan man who wanted to be an online sales superstar was charged yesterday with stealing $590,000 from three investors of his proposed fashion website.

Andrew Albert, 49, was hauled into Manhattan Supreme Court in a pin-stripped suit and handcuffs. He pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, grand larceny and third-degree criminal tax fraud. He faces up to 15 years in prison for the 2-year swindle.

His website, on1ave.com, was billed as the fashion equivalent of Amazon.com, but prosecutors said it was nothing more than an ATM for Albert and his socialite wife.

"Albert falsely told investors that his shopping website would feature a virtual street akin to famous retail boulevards like Madison Avenue or Rodeo Drive," said District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

"In reality, the company he created served as nothing more than a bank account that the defendant used to pay for his personal expenses and lavish life-style."

Albert had just $169 of his own money in the bank when the scam began, prosecutors said. He spent nearly $350,000 of the stolen money on personal expenses, including $20,000 on clothes, prosecutors said.

His wife, Annie Churchill, who was not charged, was featured in a New York Observer article several years ago plugging the proposed website.

Albert, who was released without bail, moved the stolen funds into an account set up for a nearly defunct media consulting business he formed in 2004, authorities said.

Prosecutors said the thieving began after Churchill stopped using her trust fund to pay their personal bills, and after he hired "Vogue" Editor Anna Wintour's former assistant.

"It's New York bulls---t," Albert's lawyer, George Farkas, said, adding the case should remain in civil court.

Investors, including Churchill's childhood friend, Michael Bedrick, filed a lawsuit claiming they were had. In a counter claim, Albert says he was defamed by claims he was "slacking off."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/08/15/2011-08-15_luxury_web_scam_nets_man_nearly_600k_to_live_lavish_lifestyle_court.html#ixzz1V9HLgspb

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