Buffalo Township attorney waives hearing
A Buffalo Township attorney accused of misappropriating money belonging to an elderly client waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Allegheny County Court.
Michael C. Alberty, 58, faces charges of theft by deception and misapplication of entrusted property.
Court records show a charge of theft by unlawful taking was withdrawn.
A detective with Allegheny County district attorney’s office said Alberty acted as a construction consultant for an 87-year-old client whose home in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood was being renovated.
The detective alleges Alberty, who according to court papers had a practice in West Virginia for at least some of the period in question, directed the client to sign a total of 33 blank checks – saying they were for costs of the remodeling – which he made out to himself.
He allegedly paid himself about $180,470 this way from September 2015 and March 2016.
The detective said that amount was roughly $54,070 more than the value of the services Alberty recorded as providing in a time log allegedly created after the fact.