Nassau DA: Employee stole more than $500G from special needs clients

A former employee at a Nassau law firm that handled trusts for people with special needs has been charged with allegedly stealing more than $500,000 from the clients' accounts, District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Thursday.

Michelle Byrd, 53, of Hempstead, was indicted on a single charge of second-degree grand larceny and 180 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, both felonies, according to a news release from the Nassau County District Attorney's Office.

Byrd, who worked as a case manager at the law firm, allegedly stole the money by forging the signatures of an attorney trustee involved in handling the accounts of seven clients, prosecutors said.

“The victims of this alleged scheme included adults with cerebral palsy, stroke victims, and a woman who had lost her arms and legs due to medical malpractice,” Donnelly said in the release. “One victim was forced to sell his house because of more than $180,000 that was spent down in his account.”

Byrd pleaded not guilty Wednesday at her arraignment before Acting Supreme Court Judge Helene Gugerty and was freed on her own recognizance with a return court date of April 4, said a spokeswoman for Donnelly.

Byrd's defense attorney, Xavier Donaldson, declined to comment on the case Thursday. If convicted of the top charge of grand larceny, Byrd would face up to 15 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, the alleged scheme ran from 2014 to 2021 and involved Byrd allegedly writing hundreds of checks to herself from seven trust accounts without permission to do so, causing a total loss of $526,553. She allegedly forged the signature of the trustee on the checks and forged bank statements to cover up the theft, prosecutors said.

Among the thefts alleged in the indictment was the unauthorized disbursement of about $32,000 from a trust account set up for the care of a client with cerebral palsy, and a forgery involving $32,317 from the trust for a woman who had suffered a stroke.

The indictment alleged that in another instance, forgeries of the trustee's signature led to the disbursement of $180,884 from an account for a stroke patient who used a wheelchair. The loss of funds led the man to sell his home, Donnelly said.

Since both the clients and law firm are considered victims in the case, Donnelly's spokeswoman said, neither were identified in the indictment, 

The suspected scheme unraveled when one of the trust accounts Byrd helped manage was transferred to Chase, which sent copies of the checks to the law firm for review. In April 2021, the law firm received a copy of a check allegedly made payable for $2,500 to Byrd with the trustee's forged signature, Donnelly said.

The trustee canceled the transaction and Byrd was then fired, according to Donnelly. After the law firm conducted a short internal review, the matter was referred to the district attorney’s office, Donnelly said.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.