A disbarred former Great Neck attorney has admitted in court that he burned through $30,000 that was supposed to sit safely in escrow for a Long Island home sale, and now he has to pay it back or risk heading to state prison.
Marco Materassi, 59, pleaded guilty on June 15 in Suffolk County Supreme Court to taking a $30,000 down payment tied to a Lake Grove home contract and spending it within four days on unauthorized business and personal charges. The money should have been held in escrow for a Jan. 26, 2024, real estate deal that ultimately fell apart, and the plea resolves Suffolk County’s criminal case connected to that canceled contract.
How prosecutors say the $30K vanished
According to Suffolk County prosecutors, Materassi was hired to represent the seller in the Lake Grove transaction and received the $30,000 down payment on Jan. 26, 2024. When the sale collapsed, all sides agreed the deposit should go back to the buyer. Instead, he stopped returning calls from the buyer, the buyer’s attorney and the seller, then allegedly drained the funds within four days on personal and business expenses, as reported by TBR News Media.
“An attorney who steals from his clients violates the public trust and his own fiduciary duty to his client,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in the office’s announcement, according to TBR News Media…