Crime & Safety
Hazlet Real Estate Lawyer Gets 10 Years After Stealing $1M+ From Clients: Prosecutor
Steven Salami, 49, was sentenced Friday and ordered to pay back the full amount of stolen funds, prosecutors said.
HAZLET, NJ — A now-disbarred Hazlet real estate lawyer has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison after he admitted to stealing nearly $1.18 million from dozens of his clients, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said.
Steven Salami, 49, of Hazlet, pleaded guilty to financial facilitation of criminal activity in October 2024.
The initial investigation into Salami’s activities focused on four victims who were defrauded out of nearly $300,000 from April through August of 2019.
Find out what's happening in Holmdel-Hazletfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In his role as an attorney, prosecutors said Salami took funds from the victims for real estate transactions but failed to do the work he was paid for.
The funds, which were supposed to be placed in escrow, were never returned to the victims, resulting in missed closing dates, nullified transactions, and other issues, Santiago said.
Find out what's happening in Holmdel-Hazletfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Following Salami’s arrest in 2019, the investigation continued and uncovered dozens of additional victims, leading to a 63-count indictment being returned by a Monmouth County Grand Jury in July 2021.
According to the appeals court, the indictment consisted of 58 counts of third-degree misapplication of entrusted property, two counts of second-degree misapplication of entrusted property, one count of theft by failure to make required disposition of property, and two counts of financial facilitation of criminal activity.
A lower court granted Salami’s motion to dismiss the two financial facilitation counts, but the prosecutor’s office appealed the decision in January 2023.
After the Superior Court Appellate Division granted the state’s appeal to restore the two counts in November 2023, the case resumed.
In addition to his sentencing, prosecutors said Salami was also ordered to pay the full amount of stolen funds back to the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, which had previously reimbursed his clients, during a hearing held on Friday.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes & Special Protections Unit led the investigation into Salami’s activities.
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