A special prosecutor has been appointed in the case of a Great Neck attorney arrested for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars belonging to disabled clients over the past four years, authorities said.
Martha Brosius, 50, was charged this week with three counts of grand larceny.
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s office referred the case to Queens prosecutors in order to avoid any resulting appearance of impropriety due to a conflict of interest, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Prosecutors said Brosius, an elder law attorney who also has an office in Manhattan, spent more than $150,000 belonging to an incapacitated 77-year-old man she was appointed guardian of on payroll and personal expenses between 2009 and 2011.
She also allegedly spent much of $245,595 in a Special Needs Trust two Westchester men set up for their disabled sister, who was the sole inheritor of their father’s estate.
And in a third case, Brosius is accused of similarly spending much of an $84,864 escrow check a client had given her to handle his mother’s estate in August 2011. The victim’s family noted they were later made whole.
Judge Eric Bjorneby set bail for Brosius at $10,000 cash or $100,000 bond. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted and is due back in court Oct. 17.
Queens prosecutors ask that anyone who believes that he or she may have been a victim, or knows someone who may have been a victim of the defendant’s alleged scheme, to contact their Integrity Bureau at 718-286-6560.
