Prominent Long Island Lawyer Accused Of Pocketing $200,000 In Client Funds
A prominent Long Island attorney is accused of misusing up to $200,000 in funds that were awarded to his clients, reports CBS New York.
Steven Morelli, reported tolive in Manhasset and to own a home in Manhattan, is accused of pocketing settlement money meant for his clients, some of whom say they’ve been waiting for their payouts for more than a year.
“Somebody I know to be a good man and a good lawyer found himself in some trouble here,” Marc Gann, Morelli’s defense attorney, said to the news outlet. “I hope it doesn’t end this way. This is a guy who has fought for his clients for many years. I know the allegations are serious allegations, but my understanding is that everyone to this point has been made whole.”
One client was reportedly shorted $50,000 from a nearly $70,000 settlement. Irman Rubbani, a limousine driver in Brooklyn, told CBS2 that he has not seen “one penny” of the $50,000 Morelli owes him.
A New Jersey attorney accused of offering to represent female clients at a reduced rate in exchange for sexual favors was found dead in his vehicle Tuesday morning from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed.