The litigation fallout from the fleecing of a $4.8 million escrow account by a Long Island bookkeeper working at his brother's law firm continues, as a judge has declined to dismiss a suit against the bank that opened the account.

In February, Anthony Galasso was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 years in prison for embezzling the money deposited in 2004 by Stephen Baron, a client of Garden City, N.Y.-based Galasso, Langione, Catterson & LoFrumento, where Anthony's brother, Peter, is a name partner.

Baron has sued the firm for "gross negligence and lapse of ethical duty" for failing to discover the theft as well as two banks the firm did business with, Signature Bank and M&T Bank.

In an affidavit, Stephen Reinhardt, a senior executive of Signature Bank, which housed the account, claimed monthly statements were sent to the address provided by the firm and that the "escrow account was never overdrawn."

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