Swindling Young Banker Stole From the Rich to Give to the Bars
Robin Katz, the 25-year-old Chase financial planner and Smith College grad accused of relieving one of her clients of $110,000, has redeeming qualities: The guy she ripped off is a poker-playing Wall Street broker. Also she drinks a lot.
The New York Post tracked down Katz's victim, Dorone Ilan Farber, a broker who is employed by his uncle's firm, Hilliard, Farber & Co. We knew that Katz's mark had to be rich just from the fact that, after surreptitiously making a duplicate ATM card made, she was able to withdraw $110,000 over the course of a year without him noticing. But it's nice to know that she wasn't (like less comely, older male bankers) emptying out some poor sap's retirement fund. Instead she was ripping off a World Series of Poker aspirant who still doesn't know that he's been ripped off:
Farber, a broker for Hilliard, Farber & Co., a Wall Street company owned by his uncle, loves cards and placed 128th in the 2008 World Series of Poker. He won $4,216.
When asked by phone yesterday about the pilfering of his bank account, he told a reporter, "I don't know what you're talking about."
What was she doing with all that money? The Post quoted law enforcement sources yesterday saying she spent it on "going out." A guy who came forward to Gawker says he once met Katz out an Upper East Side bar once elaborated on that to us. "I remember she was a pretty accomplished drinker," the tipster says. "And she was dressed well—maybe too well. Also said she hated her work, but it paid very well so what can you do?" Very well, indeed.
The source contacted us because he had held onto Katz's business card—which identifies her as a vice president at Chase— after meeting her and, smelling a new hipster grifter in the offing, he decided to try to auction it on Craigslist with bids starting at $300. Which won't happen. But if it did, we couldn't countenance it, even if he claims half the profits will go to charity. It's just dumb. We will, however, listen to your tales of Robin Katz for free. Email us.