A Long Island, New York, man was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly draining his mother’s bank account of $4.5 million to fund his lavish lifestyle.
Between 2015 and 2017, he allegedly used that money on private jets, $100,000 bottles of champagne, hotel rooms, Super Bowl box seats, and nightclubs. He also used the funds to pay off American Express, Capital One, and Chase credit cards that belonged to his friends, the district attorney’s office alleges.
Bernstein also allegedly used online and mobile payment services like Venmo, Paypal, Squareup, and Plastiq to transfer money to various accounts and then withdraw cash after the transfers.
The district attorney’s office said Bernstein’s mother, who has not been named, became aware of her son’s misdeeds in April and filed a complaint in Manhattan. For jurisdictional reasons, the case was transferred to Nassau County.
If convicted of the top charge, he faces 8 to 25 years in jail.
Bernstein’s bond was set at $750,000, or $650,000 in cash.
He was arraigned at a Nassau County district court on June 7 and is due back in court on Monday, June 11.