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A former attorney pleaded guilty last week to wire fraud and filing false tax returns in connection with a scheme to embezzle funds from trusts held at Morgan Stanley Bank.

Kevin M. Brill, 61, of Newton, pleaded guilty in federal court to six counts of wire fraud and four counts of filing false tax returns.

According to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office, Brill was a trustee from 2012 to July 2017 for three family trusts with funds held at Morgan Stanley Bank. As trustee, Brill had fiduciary responsibilities to protect and preserve the funds of the trusts and make expenditures for the benefit of each beneficiary.

As part of his embezzlement scheme, Brill created new accounts at Santander Bank and used these accounts to funnel funds he withdrew from the trust accounts, according to the statement. Over the course of the six-year scheme, Brill embezzled and misappropriated more than $600,000 from the various trusts and used the proceeds on personal expenses, including a personal vehicle, a vacation home in Vermont and his personal credit card expenses.

Brill also did not report this illegal income to the IRS, avoiding paying more than $169,000 in federal income taxes on those funds, according to the statement.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 5. The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of filing false tax returns provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.