RVC att’y charged with stealing from dead client

A Rockville Centre attorney, 58-year-old Joel Post, was arrested on the morning of Oct. 28 and charged with grand larceny after prosecutors alleged he stole as much as $200,000 from the estate of a man who died 16 years ago.

Post was arraigned later in the day in First District Court in Hempstead. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that in 1997, Post was appointed co-administrator for the estate of a former New York resident who died in France in 1993. Post’s responsibilities in that position included negotiating claims against his estate, collecting estate assets and paying the estate’s federal and state estate and income taxes. Post set up an account in 2001 for the estate’s assets from which he would pay any taxes.

  On Sept. 29, 2005, Post is alleged to have reported depositing $286,000 into the account. In the fall of 2006, however, Post’s co-administrator learned that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was claiming large arrearages. Prosecutors said that the co-administrator also learned that Post had not made payments to the IRS aside from one $50,000 payment in early 2006.

  Rice said that Post, after numerous demands from his co-administrator, provided a document entitled “Transactions by Account,” which purportedly listed numerous deposits and payments made between March 6, 2001 and July 25, 2007. The document also listed a balance of more than $231,000.

When the co-administrator attempted to verify this information with the bank, however, he was told that the account had a balance of only $4. Investigators say they believe Post stole between $50,000 and $200,000 from the account.

  “We believe that Mr. Post used the estate of an innocent deceased man to pad his own wallet,” Rice said. “My office will aggressively prosecute any attorney who abuses the trust their clients place in them.This defendant has betrayed his profession and the community of Rockville Centre, and that won’t be tolerated on my watch.”

Post is being represented by attorney Peter Bongiorno. Neither he nor Post returned calls for comment. Deputy Bureau Chief William Wallace of the Government & Consumer Frauds Bureau is handling the case for the DA’s Office.