Sentencing of former Garden City real estate attorney Daniel Boldi twice delayed after prosecutors say more victims come forward

The sentencing of a former Garden City real estate lawyer accused of running a million-dollar fraud scheme was postponed on Tuesday for a second time since he pleaded guilty last year after more victims stepped forward.

Daniel Boldi, 50, confessed to 13 counts of second-degree grand larceny and operating a scheme to defraud in October in exchange for the prospect of a sentence of 3 to 9 years in prison. He also agreed to forfeit his law license and pay back at least $1 million of the $5.7 million prosecutors charge he stole from more than a dozen clients under the agreement.

Boldi, a 2003 Hofstra Law School graduate, admitted perpetrating various frauds between September 2020 and January 2024 to bilk homeowners, real estate agents and other property sales professionals.

On April 17, he appeared in court for his sentencing without having paid any of the money back.

"You’ve not paid back any of that restitution to date and therefore you are in violation of that plea agreement, and therefore when you are sentenced, you will be sentenced to 4 to 12 years," Supreme Court Justice Karyn Fink told him.

Five additional victims have come forward since Boldi's plea, according to prosecutors, and the amount of the fraud now tops $6.2 million.

He still has not paid any restitution, his defense lawyer, Michael Franzese said.

The attorney said the purpose of Tuesday’s hearing was to continue to gather more information on the amount of money stolen by his client.

"There’s a multitude of victims," Franzese said. "We want to make sure that the amounts are accurate."

In one instance, prosecutors said he lied about paying off the balance of the mortgage of an East Meadow couple selling their home, forcing them to continue making payments on a property they no longer owned.

In another scheme, he stole $1.15 million from a private investor using fake mortgage and closing records, prosecutors charge.

In another, the defendant also provided a private lender with fraudulent mortgage and title closing records, embezzling $1.15 million through two separate loan thefts between Sept. 8, 2020, and Nov. 7, 2023.

Franzese said his client struggled with cocaine use, which clouded his judgment.

"He had a drug addiction for quite some time, which led to bad decision-making that resulted in his downfall," the defense lawyer said. "His judgment was off due to the cocaine."

Boldi was disbarred in October 2017.

Franzese said some restitution for the victims will come from The Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection​​​​​​, a nonprofit group in New York that compensates the clients of unscrupulous attorneys.

The group paid out $11.6 million from 94 claims in 2024, according to their annual report.

Franzese said Boldi still plans to come up with some of the restitution.

"Hopefully, some of the money will come from my client, but not before sentencing," he said.