Disbarred attorney stole over $1M from investors, says DA

A disbarred real estate attorney from Lindenhurst faces grand larceny charges in the theft of more than $1 million from investors she duped in a mortgage scheme, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Dawn Hughes, 45, of Artic Street, solicited cash investments from clients, “promising them their money would be used to fund short-term private mortgages,” Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said in a news release.

“An investigation found that the defendant used names and property addresses from prior, legitimate real estate transactions to create fake mortgage documents to provide to her investors,” Spota said.

Hughes, who was disbarred in May, embezzled the money for personal use, prosecutors said.

“The total amount of the theft is over one million dollars,” Spota said.

Hughes is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, and State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho will unseal the indictment, prosecutors said.