Garden City attorney pleads guilty to $5 million theft scheme
- Daniel Boldi embezzled $5,780,424 from clients over a four-year period, primarily through fraudulent property transactions.
- He pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts and agreed to forfeit his law license, as prosecutors aim to restore victim finances.
- The case highlights significant issues surrounding trust and accountability in real estate transactions, leading to potential regulatory scrutiny.
In the United States, a Garden City real estate lawyer named Daniel Boldi admitted to defrauding clients of over $5 million in a series of dubious property transactions. From September 2020 to January 2024, he embezzled $5,780,424, primarily from homeowners and real estate professionals using his Boldi Law Group firm. Boldi pled guilty to 13 counts of second-degree grand larceny and a scheme to defraud, resulting in an agreement to forfeit his law license. District Attorney Anne Donnelly highlighted Boldi's betrayal of trust, impacting nearly four dozen victims, including an ambulance corps and individual homeowners. He misrepresented mortgage payments, forcing a couple to continue paying for a home they no longer owned. Under a plea agreement, he must repay $1 million before his sentencing on April 17 to potentially face a reduced sentence of three to nine years instead of the maximum 12 years. His defense attorney suggested that Boldi’s illegal actions stemmed from a series of poor judgments in real estate investments that did not perform as expected. The victimization of clients and mishandling of real estate transactions raises serious questions about regulatory measures in the sector, as well as the vulnerabilities clients face when entrusting their financial interests to professionals.