What to Know
- A former New Jersey attorney has been sentenced to prison for stealing more than half a million dollars in settlement funds from two dozen of his Brooklyn clients and nearly $100,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, local prosecutors said.
- Raleigh Douglas Herbert, 61, of Chatham, was sentenced Wednesday to between one and three years in prison, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. Herbert pleaded guilty to second and third degree grand larceny as well as first degree scheme to defraud on December 16, 2022.
- Citing evidence, Gonzalez said that from 2015 to 2021, Herbert, who handled wrongful arrest and personal injury cases against New York City, embezzled about $493,000 from 16 of his Brooklyn clients by depositing checks received from negotiated settlements. in your lawyer. escrow account.
NEW YORK — A former New Jersey lawyer was sentenced to prison for stealing more than half a million dollars in settlement funds from two dozen of his Brooklyn clients and nearly $100,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, prosecutors said. local.
Raleigh Douglas Herbert, 61, of Chatham, was sentenced Wednesday to between one and three years in prison, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. Herbert pleaded guilty to second and third degree grand larceny as well as first degree scheme to defraud on December 16, 2022.
According to González, citing evidence, he said that, from 2015 to 2021, Herbert, who handled wrongful arrest and personal injury cases against New York City, embezzled about $493,000 from 16 of his clients in Brooklyn by depositing checks received from negotiated settlements. in your lawyer. escrow account.
To hide these thefts, Herbert lied to his clients about why they did not receive the money, including blaming court closures related to COVID-19 or claiming that the victims had liens that prevented him from paying them when no such liens existed.
In addition, Herbert stole around $96,000 by submitting fraudulent loan applications through the COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) administered by the US Small Business Administration.
Herbert was arrested on February 1, 2022, and again on May 2, 2022, under two separate charges that were later combined. Herbert was subsequently arrested a third time, on December 7, 2022, on a felony complaint accusing him of stealing around $77,000 from eight additional clients who came forward after his second arrest.
Herbert was then suspended from practicing law in New York State in March 2021, but continued to represent a client in a wrongful death lawsuit against the New York City Police Department, without telling his client, that he was to receive a $750,000 settlement, he had been suspended.
Herbert was then banned from practicing as a lawyer effective June 2022.
According to the district attorney, the embezzled funds were used on various personal expenses and unrelated debts.
“This defendant repeatedly violated his oath as an attorney and betrayed his clients’ trust by pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlement money and COVID-19 relief funds to which he was not entitled. Criminal conduct in the legal profession is unacceptable, and today’s sentencing sends a strong message that he will be vigorously prosecuted,” González said in a statement.
The New York State Client Protection Lawyers Fund has reimbursed a total of approximately $470,000 to 16 of the defendant’s victims, according to the district attorney’s office.
The New York State Client Protection Lawyers Fund has reimbursed a total of approximately $470,000 to 16 of the defendant’s victims, according to the district attorney’s office.
“Theft of money from law clients is not only a crime, but a profound violation of the trust placed in lawyers. On behalf of the more than 351,000 members of the New York legal profession, the Lawyers Fund is strives to restore that trust by reimbursing the damage caused by the statistically few in our profession who cause such losses,” said Michael J. Knight, Executive Director of the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection.
