KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said deputies in the Dandridge area helped arrest a person who was suspected of embezzling more than $400,000 from the law firm where he worked.
They said a deputy was contacted by authorities from New York of Steven Cher's possible location, and he was arrested without incident at a home on Privet Drive. According to a release from Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, Cher was charged with embezzling money from the firm's Interest On Lawyer Account, which contained settlement money belonging to clients.
They said he embezzled the money from the Law Office of Yuriy Prakhinm, where he helped in handling settlement checks to clients. They said he deposited around $288,611 into a bank account that he opened in the name of another person and diverted 16 checks worth $127,524 into a bank account with his own name.
They said he used the money to pay personal expenses such as traveling, at restaurants and on credit card bills.
They said Cher is also known as Vladislav Cherednichenko, 48. According to the release, he is 48 years old and was arraigned on an indictment for second-degree grand larceny, second-degree money laundering, first-degree identity theft and 32 counts of first-degree falsifying business records.
