Katonah lawyer Donald Braun has been disbarred for misappropriating client funds.
The state Second Appellate Court on March 27 granted Braun’s voluntary resignation. He acknowledged that the local lawyer’s grievance committee was investigating him and attested that he could not successfully defend himself against the charges.
Braun, of Amawalk, had practiced law for 48 years and specialized in estate planning and real estate law.
He was under investigation for misappropriating $60,209 from Holly Tsuei, of Chappaqua, and $186,350 from Liza Jones-Kanu, of Cortlandt. He admitted that an accounting of his escrow account was incomplete and that more client funds may have been misappropriated, according to the court’s findings.
Braun represented Tsuei and Jones-Kanu in various real estate transactions in recent years, according to Westchester County property records.
He also was investigated for commingling personal funds with law firm funds and engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
Braun claimed that he was the victim of a fraud in which he was induced to withdraw cash from his firm’s escrow account, “for the benefit of the individuals who were enacting the scheme upon him,” according to the court’s decision.
The panel of five appellate judges ordered Braun to repay Tsuei and Jones-Kanu and to reimburse the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection for any payments it made to the victims.
