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Long Island resident Douglas Valente, age 56, was arraigned on one count of grand larceny in Suffolk County Court on Friday morning, Feb. 3.
Prosecutors said between May 2021 and September 2022, Valente, who formerly served as the principal attorney at the Valente Law Group in Stony Brook, stole nearly $400,000 from a client who had sold a home because of a pending divorce.
Instead of holding the sale proceeds in his escrow account, Valente is accused of using the money for business and personal expenses.
Friday’s arraignment came months after Valente was indicted on two counts of second-degree grand larceny for allegedly stealing clients’ money from his escrow account over a six-month period in 2020.
Investigators found that between April and May 2020, Valente stole $181,201.67 from a 78-year-old woman who he represented in the sale of her home, according to the report.
The proceeds of the sale were reportedly put into his escrow account.
According to the DA's Office, Valente was required to send half of the proceeds to his client and the other half to her matrimonial attorney to be held in escrow until the divorce was finalized.
"Although Valente did send half of the proceeds to his client, he allegedly failed to send the remaining half of the proceeds to her attorney in the matrimonial proceeding," Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement.
"As a result, when his client’s divorce was finalized, she was unable to obtain the remaining proceeds from the sale of her house."
Valente also allegedly stole $248,027.84 from Guaranteed Rate Inc., a mortgage lender, between September and October 2020, while he was the organization's attorney and settlement agent in a refinance transaction, Tierney said.
The organization wired money to Valente's escrow account to be dispersed, and Valente was meant to send a portion of the proceeds of the refinanced mortgage to the prior mortgage company to pay off the existing mortgage.
He allegedly did not do so, and the organization had to pay off the existing mortgage, Tierney said.
“This defendant is now alleged to have stolen close to a million dollars from three of his clients over a two-and-a-half-year period,” Tierney said.
“Attorneys have a duty to act in the best interests of their clients. Not only did this defendant allegedly violate that duty, he also stole from them, and this will not be tolerated.”
Following his arraignment Friday, Valente was released on his own recognizance as his new charge is considered non-bail eligible under state law. He had already surrendered his passport following his previous arraignment.
Tierney asked anyone who believes they have been victimized by Valente to call the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office at 631-853-5602.
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