A disbarred attorney from Manhasset has been sentenced to prison and a six-figure restitution for stealing $675,000 from clients and using part of the stolen money to pay restitution in another of his larceny cases, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced Wednesday.
Alfred DiGirolomo Jr. pleaded guilty on Dec. 21 to three counts of grand larceny in the second degree in satisfaction of the charges for stealing the $675,000 from two clients and pleaded guilty to one count of grand larceny in the second degree on April 4, 2019, for stealing nearly $230,000 from a separate client.
The defendant was sentenced on Monday for both cases by Judge Teresa Corrigan to one and a third to four years in prison and restitution by civil judgment for $680,000.
“Alfred DiGirolomo swindled multiple clients to pay for country club dues and cigars, and in one case, stole from one client to repay another victim,” Singas said. “My office has prosecuted more than 25 attorneys for criminally victimizing their clients, and this defendant’s case should send a strong message to all lawyers that betraying their clients can come with a heavy price.”
Singas said that in February 2016, DiGirolomo fraudulently coordinated a funding agreement between two clients. The agreement was for client one, a married couple in a federal workers’ compensation case, to obtain a $100,000 loan with interest from client two. DiGirolomo made the agreement without the married couple’s knowledge, Singas said.
The lawyer allegedly told the second client that at the successful conclusion of the workers’ compensation case, the married couple planned to repay the loan with interest and forged the husband’s signature on an agreement, after $100,000 was paid by client two into the defendant’s business account. The married couple did not receive any of the money from DiGirolomo.
In October 2018, DiGirolomo allegedly stole another $125,000 in a real estate transaction from the second client. The payment had been sent on Oct. 10, 2018, and was intended for the client, but Singas’ office said that by the end of that month, DiGirolomo had spent the money for his own purposes and the account had a zero balance.
Further, in June 2019, DiGirolomo received a $650,000 settlement check in connection with the workers’ compensation case involving the married couple. He allegedly signed the couple’s name on the check, without their consent, and deposited it into one of his business accounts. According to the agreement between the couple and DiGirolomo, the attorney was entitled to 30 percent of the recovery, amounting to approximately $195,000, and trial-related expenses of approximately $5,000.
DiGirolomo then used $130,000 of that settlement check to complete restitution in the earlier case. He was automatically disbarred and precluded from the practice of law because of his felony plea on April 4, 2019.
By Nov. 13, 2019, the account, which started with $650,000, was drawn down to approximately $800. It is alleged that DiGirolomo used the money for credit card payments, utilities, gasoline, automobiles, home furnishings, a gym, business expenses and restaurants. In the initial case, DiGirolomo used the funds to pay for expenses related to a cigar club and a country club, as well as other personal expenses.
Senior Investigative Counsel Jennifer Contreras of the Financial Crimes Bureau prosecuted the case, and Robert Del Col represents DiGirolomo. A request for comment to Del Col was not immediately returned.
