Lawyer charged with stealing $5.7M from clients over two-year period
A New York lawyer was arrested Monday on charges that he stole $5.7 million from seven clients over a two-year period.
David Frankel, 50, turned himself in at the Nassau County district attorney’s office and is now being held in lieu of $300,000 bail.
At issue is $5,769,281.17 deposited into Frankel’s law firm escrow account by seven client real estate companies in 2012, after they refinanced eight properties in Brooklyn, according to Newsday (sub. req.) and the West Hempstead Herald.
Instead of holding the funds for his clients, as he was supposed to do, Frankel used the money for his own investments and unrelated real estate transactions, the government alleges. By February 2014, the balance in the account was $836.81.
“This attorney was trusted with more than $5.7 million and he allegedly betrayed that trust by using the money to fund his own investments,” said acting district attorney Madeline Singas. “Lawyers are duty-bound to represent their clients in an ethical manner, and I encourage anyone who thinks that they have been defrauded by an attorney to contact our office.”
Attorney Avraham Moskowitz represents Frankel. He declined Newsday’s request for comment.
