Feds: Union lawyer scammed American Ballet Theatre dancers, stagehands

NYC lawyer charged in ABT dancer scam

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors say a lawyer ripped off a small union representing 80 dancers and stagehands with the American Ballet Theatre at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Leonard Leibowitz was to appear Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan to face embezzlement charges.

The 70-year-old Leibowitz was an attorney for the Independent Artists of America. Prosecutors say he used the union checkbook to write more than $350,000 in checks to himself, his law firm and his wife.

The name of his lawyer was not immediately available.