A Manhattan lawyer with a suspected gambling habit has been indicted on charges of stealing more than $800,000 from his real estate clients.

Chak Yin Lee, 42, of Warren, N.J., pleaded not guilty Tuesday at his arraignment in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court on charges of possession of stolen property, grand larceny, and scheme to defraud. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Mr. Lee, held on $533,000 bail, was arrested October 19 at his home.

Prosecutors said he stole $813,839 from at least 10 people from February through September. They said the amounts stolen from each client ranged from $2,000 to $426,859.

Prosecutors said investigators found that Mr. Lee had withdrawn large sums from his accounts through automatic teller machines in Atlantic City, N.J., leading them to believe he had gambled most of the money away in casinos.

Mr. Lee, who had an office on lower Broadway near Canal Street, got the money by accepting checks from real estate buyers on behalf of his clients, real estate sellers, and depositing them in business escrow accounts, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.

Instead of forwarding the money to his clients, Mr. Lee transferred it to his own bank account, prosecutors said. His victims were unaware that he had cheated them out of thousands of dollars because he kept postponing closing dates, said Jennifer Kushner, a spokeswoman from the district attorney’s office.

In July, Ms. Kushner said, Mr. Lee stopped showing up at his office. She said that on August 2 he closed the office, stopped paying rent, shut off his telephones, and left no forwarding address. Some of his clients contacted police and the district attorney.