Huntington Man Gets Prison Time For Phony Attorney Scheme

A Huntington business consultant was sentenced to prison on Friday for posing as an attorney and stealing nearly $200,000 from clients, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

William McCoy, 55, will serve three to nine years in prison. He was convicted of second-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud in February.

“Despite a lengthy prison sentence for this defendant, honest, hardworking people will feel the emotional and financial devastation of their lost money for years to come,” Singas said in a press release. “This case serves as a reminder that anyone hiring an attorney should check their lawyer’s standing and registration with the Office of Court Administration.”

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.

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.

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