Suffolk DA: Lawyer Loots 400K in Client Cash

A former Huntington attorney who admitted stealing nearly $400,000 from clients entrusted to her care has been sentenced to jail, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Friday.

Daphna Zekaria, 56, of Syosset, was sentenced to six months in jail followed by five years of probation after pleading guilty in May 2025 to multiple felony charges stemming from the theft of client funds held in escrow accounts.

“Attorneys are held to a higher ethical standard than the rest of society, and for good reason,” Tierney said.

“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 prosecutors, Zekaria, a partner at the Huntington law firm Sokolski and Zekaria, P.C., misappropriated funds from multiple clients between 2021 and 2023.

In one case, she was hired to represent a woman in a divorce and the sale of her marital home. Rather than safeguarding approximately $150,000 in sale proceeds until the divorce was finalized, prosecutors said Zekaria spent the money on personal and business expenses.

Authorities also said she collected $230,000 from a New York State Lottery winner after promising to hold part of the money in escrow and invest the remainder. Instead, prosecutors said, she transferred large sums to other individuals and never invested or safeguarded the funds as promised.

In a third case, prosecutors said Zekaria accepted $17,500 from an elderly Manhattan woman to fight an eviction but performed no legal work. When the client requested a refund less than two weeks later, investigators determined the money had already been spent on utility bills and credit card payments.

Zekaria pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny, first-degree scheme to defraud and second-degree criminal contempt. She repaid $373,500 in restitution to the Lawyers Fund for Client Protection before sentencing.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katharine D'Aquila of the Suffolk County District Attorney's Public Corruption Bureau.