Riverhead attorney arrested for grand larceny
A Riverhead lawyer whose license was suspended last year was arrested and charged with grand larceny this week for allegedly stealing $25,000 from two parties in a real estate transaction, according to Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
Peter A. Saad Jr., who maintains a law office on East Main Street, was hired in 2020 by a client to facilitate the sale of a home, Mr. Tierney’s office said. In the course of the transaction, it was determined that permitting issues would require that $25,000 be left in Mr. Saad’s escrow account after the Sept. 3rd closing date, until the permit issues were resolved.
The buyer was due $5,000 and the seller — Mr. Saad’s client — was due $20,00. Yet once the deal closed, according to authorities, Mr. Saad stopped responding to both parties, kept the escrow accounts funds and used them for his own personal expenses.
Mr. Saad surrendered to the county district attorney’s office on Wednesday, and was arraigned on two counts of felony grand larceny, after which he was released, officials said.
Mr. Saad’s attorney, Gerard Donnelly, did not immediate respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Saad’s license to practice law has been suspended since June of 2022, according to public records that indicate that Mr. Saad’s license was suspended last year after the state appellate division grievance committee found him “guilty of professional misconduct immediately threatening the public interest based on the respondent’s failure to comply with judicial subpoenas and his failure to cooperate with the lawful demands of the [committee] in connection with two investigations of the respondent’s professional conduct.”
On Thursday, Mr. Saad’s website was disabled and at the listed address of his Riverhead law office, a landlord said that Mr. Saad merely rented a room in the building, hadn’t been there in more than a year and is being evicted for failure to pay his rent.
Mr. Tierney’s office said that anyone who believes they were victimized by Mr. Saad should contact the district attorney’s office at 631-853-4626.
