TALLAHASSEE — Vero Beach real estate attorney Eric Brett Granitur has been disbarred following a Dec. 13 Florida Supreme Court order and his conviction by a federal jury last summer on bank fraud charges, according to an announcement by The Florida Bar.
"Granitur was found guilty in federal court of three felony counts including conspiracy to commit false statements," the state bar said in its Dec. 27 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "While acting as the attorney and escrow agent of a title company, Granitur made or caused to be made false statements and reports to federally insured financial institutions while his co-conspirators provided buyers with incentives to purchase condominium units and concealed the incentives from the financial institutions."
Granitur, 61, was sentenced in August to a year and a day prison. Granitur currently is being held in the federal prison camp in Pensacola, according to an online inmate search. His release date is scheduled in September of next year, according to that search.
The state Supreme Court issued its two-page order of disciplinary revocation, tantamount to disbarment, effective immediately, with leave to seek readmission after five years.
Florida court orders are not final until time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion does not alter the effective date of Granitur's disbarment.
Disbarred attorneys in Florida who reapply for admission must pass through an extensive process that includes a rigorous background check and retaking the bar exam.
Granitur was admitted to the bar in Florida on Nov. 20, 1986, according to his profile at the state bar website. No prior discipline before the state bar is listed on Granitur's state bar profile.
In his petition for disciplinary revocation, Granitur described his indictment in March but a federal jury it Florida's Southern District with one count of conspiracy to commit false statements and two counts of false statements. "The second superseding indictment further alleged that the conspiratorial conduct of which [Granitur] was a part caused the funding of loans based on the false disclosures," the petition said.