The victim told authorities that he hired William T. McCue, 71, who was disbarred in 1998, to represent him in an estate settlement, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Friday.
The victim said he paid McCue $15,500.00 in legal and professional fees for the estate work but later learned that he’d been disbarred, Calo said.
Investigators found that McCue also forged the victim’s signatures on $21,500 worth of checks and deposited the money, along with the previous payment in his personal bank account for his own personal use, the prosecutor said.
Records show that the New Jersey Supreme Court disbarred McCue "based upon evidence that he had misappropriated more than $547,000" from a woman's estate.
McCue was released pending a March 13 first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack on two counts of theft by deception, forgery and unauthorized practice of law in the recent case.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Fort Lee and receive free news updates.