By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Monmouth County announced that a now-disbarred local real-estate attorney who stole nearly $1.18 million from dozens of clients has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago stated that during a hearing held on Friday, January 17, before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Christie Bevacqua, 49-year-old Steven H. Salami of Hazlet was also ordered to ultimately pay the full amount of the stolen funds back to the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection, which had previously reimbursed his clients.
The initial investigation into Salami’s activities, conducted by the MCPO Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions Unit, focused on four victims defrauded out of nearly $300,000 from April through August of 2019, MCPO authorities said.
In his capacity as an attorney, county officials said, the investigation showed that Salami accepted funds from each victim for various real-estate transactions, putting the money in escrow, but failed to do the work for which he was paid.
These actions resulted in missed closing dates and nullified transactions for the victims, among other issues, according to Monmouth County officials.
Following Salami’s October 2019 arrest, MCPO authorities stated that the investigation continued, uncovering dozens of additional victims and leading to a 63-count indictment being returned by a Monmouth County Grand Jury in July 2021.
Monmouth County officials said the case was then put on hiatus until the Superior Court Appellate Division in November 2023 granted the State’s appeal to restore two counts of the indictment that a lower court had previously dismissed.
Salami pleaded guilty to second-degree Financial Facilitation of Criminal Activity in October 2024, MCPO authorities said.