Huntington Man Convicted Of Posing As Attorney, Stealing $200K

A Huntington business consultant was convicted on Tuesday of charges related to posing as an attorney and stealing nearly $200,000 from clients, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

William McCoy, 55, was convicted of second-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud.

In 2014, the DA says McCoy, who was falsely representing himself as an attorney, was hired to assist clients who were buying a party boat business in Freeport, which included the purchase of two vessels and business assets. McCoy told the clients he was an attorney despite him failing the New York State bar exam numerous times, the DA said. McCoy graduated from law school but was never licensed to practice law.

“This unscrupulous defendant was not only a fake lawyer but a thief, and he scammed those who trusted him out of their hard-earned money,” Singas said in a press release.

According to the DA, McCoy used a business checking account nicknamed "escrow account" so that the check were printed out with the word "escrow" on top. His clients wrote a check for $200,000 to the account that would be used at closing and there was an authorized expenditure of $8,000 for the transaction, the DA says.

McCoy had stolen $192,000 of those funds, leaving just $78 in the "escrow" account when it was time to close the deal in March 2015, the DA says. McCoy claimed he still had the escrow money and later said the money was used for his fees. However, separate checks introduced during the trial also showed McCoy had already collected fees from the victims, the DA said.

McCoy reportedly used the stolen funds on rent, car loans and other personal expenses.

“While the only blame here falls on the shoulders of this con man, this case serves as a reminder to anyone hiring an attorney that they should verify their lawyer’s registration and good standing with the Office of Court Administration," Singas said.

The trail lasted 11 days and the jury deliberated for about an hour and a half. McCoy is due back in court on March 13 and faces a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison.

The NCDA received the case in March 2015 and McCoy was later indicted by a Nassau County Grand Jury and arrested on March 27, 2017.

Image via NCDA