DA: Man posed as high-flying lawyer, bilked clients

A man who claimed to be "a Harvard educated attorney" with offices in Boston, New York and London is, in fact, a con man who bilked at least two clients out of thousands of dollars for legal work he never did - and bought stuff using their names - the Suffolk County District Attorney's office charges.

David Koraca, a.k.a. David Corazza, whose Web site claims "decades of experience helping clients prepare for, avoid and manage a wide range of corporate crises involving legal, business, consumer, shareholder and public relations issues" and an office at International Place, was arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court on two counts each of unauthorized practice of law and larceny over $250 by scheme, the DA's office reports.

He had bail set at $10,000.

According to the DA's office:

In July, an acquaintance accepted Koraca’s offer of legal help with financial issues she was experiencing. The victim met with Koraca at his rented office at One International Place, where Koraca made copies of her credit cards and took down her personal information, including Social Security number, prosecutors said.

In October, the victim discovered $1,004.22 in unauthorized charges on one of her credit cards – many of which were made to Amazon. When she confronted Koraca, he allegedly told the victim that the charges were for his services. He later allegedly made statements to the victim that he would reimburse the credit card charges; however, he never made the payments, prosecutors said.

A second acquaintance in September hired to Koraca to represent her in divorce proceedings. She paid Koraca a total of $6,960 for legal services and provided personal and credit card information, prosecutors said. The victim later made repeated attempts to contact Koraca but received no response.

Earlier this month, the woman discovered unauthorized charges on her credit cards and accounts totaling more than $21,000. Among those charges were payments made to the company from which Koraca rented his One International Place office, prosecutors said.

Boston Police assigned to the department’s Special Investigations Unit arrested Koraca at his office yesterday. He was found with a Massachusetts Bar Association card bearing the name David Corazza and an ID number. The MBA has no record of a David Koraca or a David Corazza authorized to practice law, nor do they have a record of any attorney assigned the number on the card, prosecutors said.

On Koraca's about.me page, he lists a background that does not include a law degree:

He demonstrated his grasp for management by supervising staff and handling scheduling and budgeting for three Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO) series, The Sopranos, Entourage, and Oz. In addition, David Corazza offered his services as a financial analyst and contract negotiator to Universal Studios, Showtime Networks Inc., HBO, and Playboy.

David Corazza attended New York University to study finance and law, and he took courses in film production and screenwriting at American Film Institute, where he received a Master's degree. At present, he is studying for his MBA in International Business at Harvard University. David Corazza serves as Vice President of Universal Jet Charter, as well as a VIP host in Las Vegas. He continues to produce commercials and music videos, and he regularly speaks at film festivals and fundraisers.

Innocent, etc.