Howard Thaler, 60, Manhattan, New York was convicted by a federal jury of fraud in connection with flip transactions in the Bronx and Westchester County, New York, in which he acted as an attorney despite having been disbarred. He faces a maximum penalty of 59 years in prison and more than $2 million in fines.
Thaler was disbarred in 1998 for misconduct in real estate deals but continued to hold himself out as a real estate lawyer, according to media reports.
He used various corporate fronts to buy homes in the Bronx and Westchester that were on the verge of foreclosure and would then flip them, receiving substantial profits. Salvatore LoBreglio, a former Westchester County Independence Party official, previously pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to a year of probation.
can a person who present themselves as a lawyer also work for the same realty office where you are buying a house?