Huntington Attorney Admits To Stealing Nearly $400K From Clients: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — A former Huntington attorney admitted to stealing nearly $400K from her clients' escrow accounts for personal and business expenses, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Thursday.

Daphna Zekaria, 54, of Syosset, pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny, the DA said. Zekaria is a former partner at the Huntington Law Firm of Sokolski and Zekaria.

"The deliberate theft of nearly $400,000 from client escrow accounts represents a serious violation of professional duty and criminal law," Tierney said in a news release. "This guilty plea ensures this defendant will be held accountable to make her clients whole for this egregious abuse of trust."

In August 2021, Zekaria, a partner at the Huntington law firm of Sokolski and Zekaria, P.C., was hired to represent a woman in her divorce and, later, for the sale of her marital home, according to court documents. Between Dec. 29, 2021, and March 4, 2022, Zekaria received approximately $150K, which were the proceeds of the sale of her client’s home, prosecutors said. Zekaria was to hold the funds in her escrow account and disperse them when the client’s divorce was finalized, authorities said. She instead used the funds for personal and business expenses, officials said.

In December 2021, Zekaria was hired by a New York State Lottery winner, the DA said. She promised to hold a portion of her client’s money in the firm’s escrow account and invest an additional portion on his behalf, prosecutors said.

Instead of holding the money or investing it, Zekaria did neither, the DA said. She transferred large amounts of money to other individuals, which she would not have been able to had her client’s funds not been deposited into her account, investigators said. Zekaria collected $230K from the victim in three separate transactions, authorities said.

Additionally, in March 2023, Zekaria was retained by an elderly Manhattan woman to help her in contesting eviction proceedings, officials said. Zekaria took $17,500 from the woman to represent her but did not perform any legal work for her, the DA said.

After the woman requested her money back 13 days after providing the payment, Zekaria had spent the victim’s money on LIPA payments and credit card bills, prosecutors said.

On Wednesday, Zekaria pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree grand larceny; one count of third-degree grand larceny; one count of first-degree scheme to defraud; and one count of second-degree criminal contempt, the DA said.

Zekaria was ordered to pay a restitution of $373,500 by May 2026 or face two to six years in prison, Tierney said. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office recommended a sentence of three to nine years in prison.

Zekaria’s law license is presently suspended while the Attorney Grievance Committee of the First Judicial Department continues disbarment proceedings against her.

She is being represented by the Legal Aid Society.