Hazlet Lawyer Took Cash from Bank Drive-Up Window, Complaint Says

Hazlet, NJ - A Hazlet lawyer is under investigation by the state Office of Attorney Ethics for allegedly taking money that another customer had accidentally left in the drive-up teller of the Hazlet TD Bank, a complaint says.

The Office of Attorney Ethics, which investigates lawyers under the New Jersey Supreme Court, confirmed that a complaint was filed against Marc Schram.

Schram is an attorney in private practice with an office on Rt. 36 in Hazlet. He also works as a public defender in Old Bridge and Aberdeen, and in 2009, was appointed Special Counsel for Monmouth County, focusing primarily on the county's land purchases, according to his website.

According to the public complaint, which was filed April 18, Schram pulled up to the Hazlet TD Bank on Bethany Road a little after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. He pulled up to the drive-through teller, where he found a white envelope full of cash inside the pneumatic tube, Hazlet police said.

That money had been left there by a man who just moments earlier had cashed his payroll check for $1,185.65, the complaint read. The bank teller returned his driver's license and the cash in the transaction tube, but the man, talking on his cell phone, was distracted and drove off, leaving the $1,185.65 and his license in the envelope in the tube.

Realizing his mistake, he immediately drove back to the TD Bank, only to find his license and 65 cents in the envelope, according to the complaint.

Schram told Patch he had no comment on the investigation.

Hazlet police were called and they reviewed surveillance video from the bank.

According to police, Schram was seen on videotape opening the envelope, counting the money and then removing the cash. He left the bank without conducting a transaction and with the $1,185, police said. He left the driver's license and 65 cents behind, police said.

Schram was called in and he cooperated with Hazlet police, and admitted taking the $1,185, the complaint read.

"I went to put my deposit in and when I opened the container to put my money in, my checks in with my deposit slip, there was cash in there. And I didn't know what to do. And I had a momentary lapse of reason, and it was just sitting there, and I made a bad decision and I decided to — to take the money, because it was there," he said, according to the complaint.

He successfully completed a pre-trial intervention program, did community service and paid full restitution to the victim, said a spokesman for the Monmouth County prosecutor's office.

As is required by law, Schram himself reported the incident to the Office of Attorney Ethics on March 15, 2015.

It is the job of the Office of Attorney Ethics to supervise and discipline lawyers who are licensed by the state to practice law in New Jersey. Discipline can range from a reprimand to the far more serious, such as a suspension from practice or a permanent disbarment. After an investigation into the Feb. 2015 incident, the OAE filed a complaint against Schram in April of this year.

The state accused him of violating the Rules of Professional Conduct for New Jersey attorneys, allegedly engaging in a "criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer."

Schram and his attorney have responded to the complaint, an OAE spokesowoman said. The matter is now before the OAE's disciplinary review board. She said she could not comment any further on what the board will decide to do. Schram has been an attorney since 1984, licensed to practice law in both New York and New Jersey.

Patch asked Monmouth County how long Schram has served as Special Counsel, but has not yet heard back.

This story was first published here.

Patch file photo of the Hazlet TD Bank on Bethany Road.