A suspended attorney from Kew Gardens was accused of stealing more than $206,000 in cash from clients who hired him in various home purchases and sales, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said last week.
Percy Randall, 58, practiced law on 82nd Avenue in Kew Gardens until being suspended in December 2011 based on his conviction in a previous crime, Brown said. Since then, he took on five clients to represent them in various home purchases, sales, and one divorce and allegedly pocketed about $206,000, the DA said.
“Despite his suspension, the defendant allegedly continued to practice law and represent himself as a licensed attorney and thereby break the law,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “His alleged conduct was not only reprehensible but also a profound betrayal of trust that warrants vigorous prosecution.”
According to the DA, Randall allegedly stole the money in amounts ranging from $6,000 to $138,000 from five different clients who had hired him between May 2011 and October 2012. Each client, Brown said, hired him to represent them in separate resl estate matters, and in one case, a divorce.
Randall, a native of Westbury, Long Island, was charged with second- and third-degree grand larceny and practicing law after being disbarred, suspended or convicted of a felony. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted and was ordered held without bail with a return court date of May 20, Brown said.
A March 2010 indictment named Randall as one of five individuals charged in connection with a nearly $2 million mortgage fraud scheme in which stolen identities were used to buy and sell three properties in Queens.
