Disbarred attorney Charles Diven Jr. of Yorktown has been indicted for defrauding clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced Tuesday. Diven, 47, was arraigned Tuesday in Westchester County Supreme Court. He resigned from the bar last year while being investigated by the Grievance Committee for the Ninth Judicial District. He allegedly defrauded two clients between 2004 and 2011, according to a news release from DeFiore's office.
One of the clients retained Diven in 2005 for a divorce. In 2008, Diven told her to give him $243,000 to demonstrate that she was able to buy her ex-husband's share of their marital home. Diven allegedly said he would keep the money in trust but instead took it for himself. Diven is also accused of defrauding another client he was representing in an estate case. He asked that client for more than $171,000 to be held in trust, but again used it for himself, the indictment claims.
