A former attorney from Calverton, N.Y., has pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny after being accused of stealing $25,000 that was intended to be distributed from a home sale escrow account.
Peter, Jr. entered his guilty plea before Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Steven Pilewski on April 16. He was placed on probation and ordered to pay restitution and to complete 210 hours of community service. The plea was announced by Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, Saad was hired in 2020 to represent a client in the sale of his home. At that time, Saad was the principal attorney at the Law Offices of Peter A. Saad, Jr., P.C., based in Riverhead, N.Y.
During the transaction, it was discovered that the home being sold had permit issues that required money to be left in escrow after the Sept. 3, 2020, closing. All parties involved agreed to keep $25,000 in Saad’s escrow account until the outstanding permit issues were resolved.
After the closing, Saad stopped responding to the parties, failed to return the $25,000 in escrow funds, and instead spent the money on his own personal expenses. It was later determined that $5,000 of the missing funds was due to the purchasers of the home and the remaining $20,000 was due to the seller of the home, who was Saad’s client.
Saad was disbarred from practicing law in the state of New York, effective Jan. 31, 2024.