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Daniel Boldi, age 49, of Garden City, faced his arraignment on Wednesday, April 10.
The Nassau County District Attorney alleged that Boldi, who owned and operated the Boldi Law Group, PC, used his expertise in real estate transactions to embezzle his clients’ money on multiple occasions.
In October 2023, the DA’s Office said, Boldi worked with a couple on the closing of the sale of their East Meadow home, where he acted as the settlement agent and bank attorney for the mortgage broker used in connection with the transaction.
As part of his responsibilities, Boldi was to give $309,367 to the couple’s mortgage lender to pay off the East Meadow home’s mortgage after he received the loan funds from the home buyer’s mortgage company.
However, Boldi is alleged to have lied to the couple, saying that the money from the buyer’s lender was never transferred to his escrow account; because of this, the parties agreed to a “dry closing,” where all closing requirements are fulfilled besides the disbursement of funds, with the deed held in escrow.
Just days later, Boldi reportedly showed the couple a fake wire request document as proof that their mortgage payoff funds were sent to their mortgage company, allowing the sale to be completed and the deed of the home to be released.
The DA’s Office claimed that to date, none of the couple’s mortgage payoff funds ever made it to their lender. Because of this, the couple is forced to continue making mortgage payments on a home that they no longer own.
Then, in November 2023, Boldi represented a person buying a Valley Stream property. In this case, Boldi had his associate handle the closing, which he directed again to be a dry closing, telling the associate that a $422,000 payment from the buyer’s lender hadn’t cleared the escrow account.
Days after the dry closing, Boldi gave the seller a $379,493 check that bounced, officials alleged.
The title and broker commission check, both of which Boldi supposedly drafted, also bounced. He still has not released the money sent by the buyer’s lender.
According to bank records, the money from both transactions was spent on other transactions, including a payment of over $600,000 to a seller in a separate dry closing.
“Incredibly, one couple continues to pay the mortgage for a home they no longer own because of this defendant’s alleged embezzlement,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, adding that her office has received additional complaints from other people Boldi allegedly victimized.
After surrendering to the NCDA, Boldi was charged with two counts of grand larceny.
He was ordered to surrender his passport and is next due to appear in court on Thursday, April 25.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of up to five to 15 years in prison.
Anyone who feels they may have been a victim of Boldi’s and has not yet filed a complaint is urged to contact the Criminal Complaint Unit at 516-571-3505.
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