Brooklyn Supreme Court judge resigns amid fraud probe

A Brooklyn Supreme Court justice who has been charged with helping to defraud real estate and business investors by hiding money in escrow resigned from his post, a state misconduct watchdog announced.

After the Commission on Judicial Conduct began a proceeding to remove Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Edward H. King from his judicial post, he resigned as of Dec. 31, 2025, and agreed to never serve as a judge again — putting an end to the investigation.

The commission said the judge had been under investigation for participating in schemes to defraud investors of escrow funds as well as allegedly practicing law as a sitting judge, which is not allowed.

“On or off the bench, a judge must respect and comply with the law and promote public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary,” said Robert H. Tembeckjian, the commissioner’s administrator and counsel. “The alarming allegations of financial impropriety against Judge King were so egregious as to warrant his permanent departure from the bench.”

According to the commission’s press release Friday, King denies the allegations. His lawyer Richard Mischel did not respond to a request for comment.

The commission was investigating “various complaints” that King had joined a racket to swindle investors by improperly receiving funds in his attorney escrow accounts, refusing to return them, and transferring them to unauthorized parties. Rules prohibit sitting judges from maintaining attorney escrow accounts, and from practicing law as an attorney, the commission said.

As a result of the commission’s agreement with King, a spokesperson said they could not confirm which complaints it was investigating, but the allegations in the commission’s decision parallel the claims in a number of lawsuits naming King in state and federal court.

In one lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, a real estate investor accused King of acting as the escrow agent on behalf of Brooklyn reality investor Sam Sprei along with former Kings County Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio on a failed purchase of property in Staten Island. The plaintiff David Sofer wired a $625,000 deposit to King, but when the deal didn’t move forward, King allegedly refused to return the funds despite numerous demands.

King informed a Brooklyn appellate court that he had wired the funds to Sprei. Sprei has claimed the funds remained in escrow. Seddio later claimed that King had sent him the funds, but after the plaintiff tried to collect the money, Seddio subsequently refused to return it.

Seddio and Sprei’s lawyer, Yashaya Gorkin of Ainsworth Gorkin, is seeking to dismiss the charges on the technical grounds that they are legally deficient and inadequately pleaded. Seddio did not respond to a request for comment.

Sofer claims his allegations fit a pattern of an “identical scams” involving escrow payments where King and Seddio assisted Sprei in defrauding investors — including on the same Staten Island property that King allegedly assisted with in 2021 and was the subject of litigation in state Supreme Court.

King is facing similar charges filed last year in Nassau County Court that he acted as an escrow agent to a fraudulent real estate deal.

Before he was appointed to Kings County Supreme Court, King served as a Kings County Civil Court judge from 2023 to June 2024.