David Denenberg to surrender to feds on mail fraud charge, attorney says

Nassau Legis. David Denenberg will surrender to federal authorities Friday on a mail fraud charge connected to allegations he billed a law client for millions but never performed the specified services, according to his attorney and sources familiar with the case.

Denenberg, of Merrick, is expected to be arraigned later Friday in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, his attorney Jason Russo of Bay Shore said.

A spokeswoman for federal prosecutors in the Eastern Disrict did not return calls for comment.

Russo would not say where and when Denenberg intended to surrender or to whom. He said Thursday that Denenberg would have no comment.

The eight-term Nassau Democratic lawmaker dropped out of the race for State Senate in the 8th District in September, hours after his former law firm sued him for more than $2 million over the billing allegations.

He decided to be "cooperative" with federal authorities, Russo said of his client, adding that he had no details of the mail fraud complaint.

"Any opportunity to be cooperative with the government is better than having them knocking your door down," Russo said.

Federal authorities would not tell Russo the details of the accusations against Denenberg or how much money was alleged to be involved. Russo said the charge would call for a sentence of up to 5 years in federal prison.

The lawsuit by Denenberg's former law firm, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron of Garden City, accused him of defrauding a client of more than $2 million by billing for "fictitious services" never performed.

The firm asked for a total of $3.6 million in the suit and referred the allegations to the office of Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, which includes Long Island. The $3.6 million includes all the compensation Denenberg was paid by the law firm from 2006 to 2014, when he left his job as a partner.

"These bills -- mailed via U.S. Postal Service, or transmitted to the client over the Internet, all at Denenberg's direction -- were works of fiction," according to the suit.

Denenberg's attorney in the lawsuit, Jeffrey Gold of North Bellmore, said the action has been settled. Gold declined to divulge details of the settlement, including whether, or how much his client agreed to repay his former law firm.

But Gold said the settlement would be filed and made public shortly. Gold said he had no knowledge of the criminal case against his client.

Denenberg's State Senate race was key to Democrats seeking to take the majority. At the time of the allegations, he called the suit politically motivated. He did not specifically deny the allegations, saying instead that he would work with the U.S. attorney's office to "establish the truth."

"My family, the electorate, the campaign and this position are way too important to be subject to outrageous allegations and negative attacks against me personally," Denenberg had said in a statement. "Therefore, I withdraw from the race."

Denenberg was first elected to the legislature in 2000. He was born and raised in East Meadow, has an engineering degree from Cooper Union and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.With Ellen Yan

By Robert E. Kessler

Robert.Kessler@newsday.com

Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.