MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced the arrest of a former Garden City attorney for allegedly stealing more than $150,000 from two clients.
Gregory Hesterberg, 67, was arraigned yesterday before Judge Eileen Goggin and charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony) and Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a D felony). The defendant was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court on September 6. If convicted of the top count, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison.
“This defendant was once elected by fellow attorneys to lead a prominent professional organization, but in private practice he allegedly stole more than $150,000 from the clients who trusted him to act in their best interest,” DA Singas said. “Attorneys have a special responsibility to protect their clients, and those who betray their professional obligations and break the law face aggressive prosecution by my office.”
DA Singas said that in March 2015 the defendant allegedly owed a client a balance of $118,715.34 from the sale of a Brooklyn home. After contacting the defendant numerous times and never receiving the money that she was owed, the client reported the defendant to the Grievance Committee for the Tenth Judicial District in November 2015. The NCDA received the case when the client filed a complaint in August 2017.
Additionally, in February 2013, the defendant was hired to settle the estate of a client’s longtime partner. After the sale of a home in Queens and payment of taxes in June 2015, the client requested the $39,317.00 balance from the defendant. Hesterberg allegedly ignored all emails and phone calls for approximately six months and never paid the client.
The defendant resigned from the New York State Bar on December 7, 2016 and was disbarred on April 19, 2017. He was a former president of the Brooklyn Bar Association.
Since 2012, the NCDA has prosecuted more than 20 attorneys for misconduct.
If you believe you may have been a victim of an unscrupulous attorney, please call the NCDA’s Tip Line at 516-571-7755.
Senior Investigative Counsel Vickie Curran of DA Singas’ Financial Crimes Bureau is prosecuting this case. The defendant is represented by Robert Harper, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
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