US: Lawyer who pleaded guilty to embezzlement disbarred
By Ben Bedell, From New York Law Journal
An in-house attorney who pleaded guilty to embezzling $2.6 million from his home health care employer was disbarred Tuesday by the Appellate Division, First Department.
Over a four-year period, Matthew Neugeboren had his New Jersey-based company put funds into his attorney trust account to reimburse expenses. He overstated the expenses and used the excess amounts to fund his gambling addiction, the panel said.
Neugeboren pleaded guilty in 2015 to federal felony counts of wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
According to local news website NJ.com, Neugeboren was sentenced to 18 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Mary Cooper in February, and ordered to pay restitution of $1.4 million—the amount he was unable to return to the company—and back taxes of $474,000.
The New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office sought a prison sentence of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years, plus a $500,000 fine.
At his sentencing, Neugeboren sought no jail time, saying he was in treatment for his 20-year gambling addiction.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Neugeboren, 40, is currently incarcerated at a medium-security prison in Cumberland, Maryland.
Neugeboren, admitted in New York in 2003, did not appear before the disciplinary committee to contest the disbarment, and failed to notify the committee of his felony conviction, as required by Judiciary Law, the panel noted.
Justices David Friedman, John Sweeny Jr., David Saxe, Sallie Manzanet-Daniels and Judith Gische joined in the ruling in In the Matter of Matthew S. Neugeboren, M-6257.
Raymond Vallejo represented the grievance committee.
Neugeboren, a graduate of New York Law School, is shown on New Jersey’s attorney registration website as suspended.
