Bankruptcy Attorney Disbarred On Consent

The New Jersey Supreme Court accepted the consent disbarment of an attorney whose conviction was reported by Law360. 

A New York state judge has ordered an 80-year-old bankruptcy attorney to spend 30 days in jail after authorities accused him of stealing more than $950,000 from his former law firm, his lawyer confirmed to Law360 on Thursday.

In a Tuesday sentencing, a Manhattan judge hit Barton Nachamie — formerly of now-defunct law firm Nachamie Spizz Cohen & Serchuk PC — with two 30-day sentences to be served concurrently, according to Nachamie’s lawyer, Paul Bergman of Paul B. Bergman PC. He was also ordered to five years’ probation.

Nachamie of Nassau, New York, was told to pay roughly $430,000 in restitution after facing second-degree felony counts of grand larceny and first-degree felony counts of falsifying business records. Bergman told Law360 on Thursday that his client had already paid $239,000 in restitution and that the $950,000 figure alleged by authorities was inaccurate.

An attorney for Nachamie’s former firm didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Thursday.

Nachamie was indicted for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his former firm’s interest on lawyer accounts and operating accounts, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in late September statement.

“Unfortunately, the defendant is the not the first attorney to be prosecuted for this type of illegal conduct,” Vance said.

According to the September statement, Nachamie began stealing money from his former firm in 2006. He allegedly wrote checks in his own name, his wife’s name, the name of his wife’s business, and the name of his personal bank.

(Mike Frisch)