Boston man arrested for posing as Harvard-educated lawyer, stealing clients’ money
At least David Koraca’s fictional counterpart was smart enough to move away from Boston before falsely posing as a Harvard-educated lawyer.
The 47-year-old Boston man was arrested by police Monday in his skyscraper office at One International Place for posing as an attorney and stealing thousands of dollars from clients, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
David Koraca, 47, of Boston, was arraigned Tuesday on charges related to pretending to be a lawyer.
Koraca — who had been operating under the name David Corazza, one of eight known aliases, prosecutors said — was arraigned Tuesday in Boston Municipal Court on two counts each of larceny by scheme over $250 and unauthorized practice of law.
According to his website and LinkedIn page, “Corazza’’ studied at Harvard and worked in the entertainment business before opening the Law Offices of David Corazza in 2011, focusing on corporate, financial and entertainment law.
A Harvard spokeswoman told Boston Business Journal that nobody by that name had graduated from the school and neither Koraca nor “Corazza’’ results in any matches in Harvard’s online student directory.
When Koraca was arrested, police say he was found with a Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers card with the name David Corazza and an ID number. But according to investigators, the BBO has no record of a David Koraca or a David Corazza, nor of the ID number in their records.
Koraca also says on his website and LinkedIn page that he worked at HBO (including on shows The Sopranos, Entourage, and Oz), Def Jam, Universal, Playboy, and Showtime.
Neither Koraca nor his attorney, William J. Walsh, immediately returned requests for comment, and the phone number listed on Koraca’s website was disconnected.
In July, prosecutors say Koraca offered legal help to a female acquaintance on financial issues. The client met with Koraca at his office, where he allegedly made copies of her credit cards and personal information.
In October, more than $1,000 in unauthorized Amazon purchases were charged to one of her credit cards, which Koraca told her was for his services. Koraca allegedly later said he would reimburse the charges, but never followed through.
Another female client hired Koraca in September to represent her in a divorce, according to prosecutors, paying him nearly $7,000 for his services. After the payments, Koraca did not respond to repeated attempts to be contacted.
Prosecutors say the woman then discovered more than $21,000 in charges to her credit cards and bank accounts, including payments to the company from which Koraca rented his skyscraper office, earlier this month.
Judge Thomas Horgan imposed $5,000 on each docket Tuesday for a total of $10,000 bail, as well as the ordering Koraca to wear a GPS monitor and abide by a curfew, if he is released.
Koraca is scheduled to return to court Dec. 14.
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