Garden City Attorney Stole $198,000 From Clients: Police

GARDEN CITY, NY - A Garden City attorney was arrested on Tuesday for stealing a total of $198,000 from four of his clients in 2015, according to Nassau Police.

From February through August, 59-year-old Steven Morelli, of New York City, an attorney and founding partner at the Law Office of Steven A. Morelli, P.C. located at 1461 Franklin Avenue, retained and misused settlement checks that had been awarded to his clients from lawsuits, police said.

He retained the monies for "an unreasonable amount of time" and then used the settlement funds for other than their intended purposes, police said.

Currently, three of the victims have received the money owed to them and the fourth victim is still owed over $40,000, police said.

Crimes Against Property Squad detectives arrested Morelli on Tuesday at about 7 a.m., according to police.

He is charged with second degree grand larceny and three counts of third degree grand larceny, according to police.

He will be arraigned on Tuesday. Police are asking anyone who believes they may have been victimized by Morelli to contact the Crimes Against Property Squad at 516-573-5275.

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