Sullivan & Cromwell Imposters Stole Checks, Letitia James Claims

Scammers posing as Sullivan & Cromwell LLP altered and stole client checks intended for the Wall Street firm, New York Attorney General Letitia James is alleging in a new lawsuit.

JPMorgan Chase cleared two checks totaling about $500,000 and deposited them into accounts for the fraudulent entities, James (D) alleges in her petition, filed Tuesday in state court in Manhattan.

The fake firms had names like “Sullivan & Cromwell LLC,” just one letter off from the actual name, James said. The checks were issued by firm clients and then altered by fraudsters to be made payable to the fake entities with similar names, James said.

A third check for $23,000 that was altered to be made payable to “Sullivan & Kromwell” wasn’t cleared by the bank, the complaint says.

“These entities’ names closely resemble that of the Complainant without its permission, and use the Complainant’s address as their registered addresses without its permission,” the complaint says.

James is suing under a New York State law that gives her office the power to bring a suit against entities in the state that “engage in repeated fraudulent or illegal acts or otherwise demonstrate persistent fraud or illegality in the carrying on, conducting or transaction of business.”

She’s asking the New York State trial court to dissolve the entities and block them from continuing the alleged conduct. The names of individuals behind the allegedly fraudulent firms aren’t disclosed in the lawsuit.

A Sullivan & Cromwell spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The entities being sued couldn’t be reached for comment. The firm is ranked 25^th by gross revenue among US firms, with some $2 billion last year.

The suit puts James on the same side as Sullivan & Cromwell as she battles with the firm over a civil fraud verdict she scored against President Donald Trump. The firm is representing Trump in his appeal of the New York appellate court decision that found him liable for fraud in a case where James alleged he inflated the value of his assets.

The firm also represents Trump in his appeal of a hush-money criminal conviction in a case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).

The case is James v. Sullivan & Cromwell LLC, N.Y. Sup. Ct., complaint filed 10/7/25.