USA: Johnston County lawyer charged with embezzling over $3M from law firm and clients

A local attorney is charged with embezzling more than $3.4 million from his Johnston County law firm and various clients he represented.

A local attorney is charged with embezzling more than $3.4 million from his Johnston County law firm and various clients he represented, including more than $710,000 from an older adult.

Korey Kiger, 36, of Raleigh, faces multiple counts of felony embezzlement and one felony count of exploiting an older adult, according to arrest warrants. At the time of the crimes, Kiger was working as an attorney with Walker Kiger PLLC, a private law firm in Johnston County.

A petition from the North Carolina State Bar for a temporary restraining order against Kiger accuses the attorney of misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars while representing clients selling a Durham home.

According to the petition, between August 7 and August 29, Kiger moved more than $975,000 from his attorney trust account to accounts for his own benefit, leaving a balance of over $3,000 in the trust account.

A check from the account in the amount of $274,841 that was issued to the sellers from the closing of their home showed insufficient funds, the document reads, stating Kiger “took for himself the funds that should have been paid to the seller.”

Kiger is also charged with exploiting $710,019 from an older man. WRAL News reached out to the victim’s family, who was aware of the charges but did not want to talk.

Steven Walker, Kiger’s former law firm partner, told WRAL News he reported Kiger to the state when he noticed “discrepancies” in a trust account containing funds belonging to Kiger’s clients.