A Syosset attorney was sentenced Friday to six months in jail and five years of probation after admitting she stole nearly $400,000 from three clients, including a New York State Lottery winner and an elderly woman facing eviction.
Daphna Zekaria, 56, pleaded guilty in May 2025 to grand larceny and other charges stemming from thefts committed while she was a partner at the Huntington law firm Sokolski and Zekaria, P.C., according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Zekaria was hired in August 2021 to represent a woman during her divorce and the sale of her marital home.
Between Dec. 29, 2021, and March 4, 2022, Zekaria received approximately $150,000 from the home sale. She was supposed to keep the proceeds in an escrow account until the divorce was finalized.
Instead, Zekaria used the money for personal and business expenses, prosecutors said.
Zekaria was also hired in December 2021 by a New York State Lottery winner. She promised to keep part of the client’s money in the firm’s escrow account and invest another portion on his behalf.
Prosecutors said Zekaria did not hold or invest the money. She collected $230,000 from the client through three transactions and transferred large amounts to other individuals.
A third victim, described by prosecutors as an elderly Manhattan woman, hired Zekaria in March 2023 to help contest eviction proceedings.
Zekaria accepted $17,500 but performed no legal work for the woman, according to prosecutors. When the client requested a refund 13 days later, Zekaria had already spent the money on LIPA payments and credit card bills.
“Attorneys are held to a higher ethical standard than the rest of society, and for good reason,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said. He said Zekaria abused her position of trust as an attorney and the legal system.
Zekaria pleaded guilty before state Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro to two counts of second-degree grand larceny, a Class C felony; third-degree grand larceny, a Class D felony; first-degree scheme to defraud, a Class E felony; and second-degree criminal contempt, a misdemeanor.
She paid $373,500 in restitution to the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection before receiving her sentence on July 17. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katharine D’Aquila of the Public Corruption Bureau.
Photo: SCDA
