A disbarred attorney with a registered office address in Great Neck was charged with grand larceny and scheme to defraud for allegedly withholding more than $133,000 in down payments from real estate transactions he was involved in in the Bronx, Queens, and Suffolk County in 2023 and 2024.
In 2024 and 2025, several complaints were filed with the Nassau County District Attorney’s (NCDA) office, alleging that Marco Materassi had unlawfully withheld funds on behalf of clients he represented in real estate transactions and failed to return funds to a buyer in another transaction in which the defendant represented the seller of a property. NCDA began an investigation into the claims.
The investigation discovered that, in several real estate transactions between November 2023 and January 2024, Materassi allegedly withheld a total of $133,950 of real estate down payments for three of his clients and one opposing real estate party. The wires or checks for these down payments were wired or deposited into the bank account of Materassi’s law office, Materassi Legal P.C., with an address listed at 55 Northern Boulevard in Great Neck. The defendant was the only authorized signatory of the account.
According to the investigation, on November 15, 2023, a complainant hired Materassi to represent her in the sale of her home in the Bronx. The buyer gave Materassi $25,000 for the down payment. The checks were then deposited into the defendant’s law office bank account. Materassi was to hold the funds in escrow until the complainant moved out of the property.
Materassi was given another $6,200 by the buyer at closing, $5,000 of which was to be held in escrow. When the complainant vacated the premises, Materassi allegedly failed to provide the $30,000 held in the escrow account.
In December 2023, another complainant hired Materassi to represent her in the sale of her home in the Bronx. The contracted buyer wired $25,000 for the down payment to Materassi’s law office bank account. Before her closing, the defendant allegedly informed the complainant that another law firm would be representing her because his firm was going to be “assumed by another firm or cease to exist.”
On April 23, 2024, the complainant attended her scheduled closing. Materassi allegedly did not appear, nor did he provide the buyer’s down payment funds from his escrow account.
In another alleged scheme, the defendant was hired to represent a complainant in the sale of his home in Forest Hills, Queens in March 2024. A contract of sale was executed, and the buyer wired a down payment of $47,800 into Materassi’s law office bank account. Materassi allegedly did not appear at the scheduled closing on August 7, 2025, but called in and participated on speakerphone. The defendant allegedly did not provide the $47,500 check at closing but allegedly said that he would wire $41,854 to the complainant the following day. The complainant made several follow-up attempts to collect the funds, but the defendant allegedly did not respond, and no funds were remitted.
Lastly, on January 4, 2024, Materassi allegedly participated in a contract of sale on behalf of a property seller in Ronkonkoma. To purchase the property, a buyer sent the defendant a deposit via wire transfer of $31,150 to the defendant’s law office bank account. Thereafter, Materassi allegedly failed to respond to any of the buyer’s or the buyer’s attorney’s communications. Materassi never returned the $31,150 to the buyer.
Bank records obtained through the course of the investigation showed that, as of December 10, 2024, the law office bank account was closed by the bank and had a negative balance of $15.00.
Between December 2023 and December 2024, Materassi allegedly used the funds in his “trust account” for purposes unrelated to the retention of client escrow funds, including numerous money transfers to unrelated bank accounts that the defendant allegedly used for purchases at restaurants, gas stations, other miscellaneous purchases, and transfers into other accounts.
On June 18, 2025, the Appellate Division 2nd Department issued an order to disbar Materassi.
Materassi, 59, of Dania Beach, Florida, surrendered on January 22, 2026, to NCDA Detective Investigators. He was arraigned later that day before Judge Sean Wright on charges of four counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a Class D felony) and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (a ClassE felony). The defendant pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. Materassi is due back in court on February 19, 2026. If convicted, he faces up to 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison.
“Buying or selling a home is one of the biggest financial decisions that people make, and clients deserve to work with reliable attorneys who can handle their money with honesty and professionalism,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “Marco Materassi allegedly swindled clients out of more than $133,000 and betrayed their trust. This defendant is also the subject of an active grand larceny prosecution in Suffolk County for similar alleged conduct. Materassi thought he could disappear with his clients’ cash, but my office will make sure that he answers for his alleged crimes.”
Anyone who may have been a victim of Marco Materassi is asked to call NCDA’s Criminal Complaint Unit at 516-571-3505.