🏠 Lawyer stole $1.18 million from dozens of victims
🏠 Victims lost out on new homes they bought
🏠 He had severe gambling and substance abuse problems
FREEHOLD BOROUGH — A disbarred real estate attorney from Monmouth County has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing over $1 million from dozens of clients.
Steven Salami, 49, of Hazlet was sentenced in Superior Court in Monmouth County last week, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said on Tuesday.
(The Closing Table by Steven H. Salami via Facebook)
Salami pleaded guilty to second-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity, known more commonly as money laundering, last October. It resolved a 63-count indictment against him, prosecutors said.
The disgraced attorney admitted he stole nearly $1.18 million from 60 clients. He has been ordered to pay back the full amount to the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, which has already reimbursed his clients.
Steven Salami (The Closing Table by Steven H. Salami via Facebook)
Victims lost out on new homes
Prosecutors said Salami’s scheme blindsided his clients. He accepted their money but never did the work to get them their homes.
After they paid Salami tens of thousands of dollars, they missed closing dates on new homes and had their purchases nullified.
(The Closing Table by Steven H. Salami via Facebook)
He was initially arrested in October 2019. Investigators first focused on four victims who had been defrauded out of nearly $300,000 from April through August of that year.
From there, the case sprawled as financial investigators found dozens more victims.
Substance abuse and gambling problems
According to court documents, Salami spent nearly $588,000 of the stolen money on himself.
His defense attorney said in court that Salami had developed severe substance abuse and gambling problems for several years leading up to the fraud.
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(The Closing Table by Steven H. Salami via Facebook)
As his problems worsened, Salami accepted new real estate clients while neglecting the law practice.
A detective said to a grand jury that Salami was taking some of the money from the 60 victims so that he could complete real estate transactions for other clients.
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New Jersey 101.5 has reached out to Salami’s defense attorney for comment.
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