In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, the Honorable John Maloney sentenced Sari Kurland, also known as Sari Bloch, to 80 years in prison, suspending all but 13 years to serve, followed by five years of supervised probation.
As part of the sentence, Kurland was ordered to pay more than $4.2 million in restitution to victims. Kurland pleaded guilty in January to one count of theft scheme over $100,000 and 15 counts of misappropriation by a fiduciary.
According to investigators, Kurland, a former Maryland attorney with a law office in Rockville, carried out three fraudulent schemes between May 2022 and September 2024 involving 21 victims and more than $4.2 million in losses. Prosecutors said one scheme involved soliciting short-term loans for what was described as a Middle Eastern petroleum deal promising unusually high returns. Another involved cryptocurrency transactions in which victims entrusted funds to Kurland’s attorney escrow account. A third involved a business owner who hired Kurland for bankruptcy-related legal services and provided settlement funds that prosecutors said were instead diverted elsewhere.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorneys Robert Hill and John Lalos. John McCarthy said Kurland abused her position of trust as an attorney and fiduciary by mishandling millions of dollars entrusted to her by clients and investors. Officials credited the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission and the State’s Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division for their investigation into the case.
