Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Daphna Zekaria, 56, of Syosset, was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and related charges, for stealing nearly $400,000 from her clients’ escrow accounts for personal and business expenses.
“Attorneys are held to a higher ethical standard than the rest of society, and for good reason,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This defendant didn’t just steal money; she abused her position of trust as an attorney and the legal system itself. Her actions deserve a serious penalty, and I thank my prosecution team for holding her accountable.”
According to court documents and the defendant’s admission during her plea allocution, in August 2021, Zekaria, a partner at the Huntington law firm of Sokolski and Zekaria, P.C., was hired to represent a woman in her divorce and, later, for the sale of her marital home. Between December 29, 2021, and March 4, 2022, Zekaria received approximately $150,000, which were the proceeds of the sale of her client’s home. Zekaria was to hold the funds in her escrow account to be dispersed when the client’s divorce was finalized. Instead, Zekaria used the funds for personal and business expenses.
In December 2021, Zekaria was hired by a New York State Lottery winner, and made promises to hold a portion of her client’s money in the firm’s escrow account and invest an additional portion on his behalf. Instead of holding the money or investing it, Zekaria did neither. She instead made large transfers of money to other individuals which she would not have been able to, had her client’s funds not been deposited into her account. Zekaria collected a total of $230,000 from the victim over three separate transactions.
Additionally, in March 2023, Zekaria was retained by an elderly Manhattan woman to assist her in contesting eviction proceedings. Zekaria took $17,500 from the victim to represent her but performed no legal work on her behalf. After the victim requested her money back 13 days after providing the payment, Zekaria had already spent the victim’s money on LIPA payments and credit card bills.
On May 21, 2025, Zekaria pleaded guilty to the following charges before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro:
- Two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a Class C felony;
- One count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony;
- One count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a Class E felony; and
- One count of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
Zekaria paid back $373,500 in restitution to the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection. On July 17, 2026, she was sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation. She was represented by the Legal Aid Society.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katharine D’Aquila of the Public Corruption Bureau.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.
