The Major Case Bureau, in conjunction with the Nassau County District Attorney’s office, reports the arrest of a Manhattan man for four grand larcenies that occurred in Garden City beginning February 2015 through August 2015.
According to detectives, Steven Morelli, 59, of 41 W. 86th St., an attorney at the Law Office of Steven Morelli PC located at 1461 Franklin Ave., retained and misused settlement checks in the amount of $198,000 that had been awarded to his clients from lawsuits. The defendant retained the monies for an unreasonable amount of time and used the settlement funds for other than its intended purpose. At this time, three of the victims have received the money owed to them. The fourth victim is still owed in excess of $40,000.
Crimes Against Property Squad detectives arrested Morelli on Tuesday, March 08, 2016 at 7:00 A.M. He is being charged with Grand Larceny 2nd Degree, three counts of Grand Larceny 3rd Degree and will be arraigned on Tuesday, March 08, 2016 in First District Court, Hempstead. Detectives ask anyone that believes they may have been victimized by the defendant to contact the Crimes Against Property Squad at 516-573-5275.
****UPDATE****
The Major Case Bureau in conjunction with the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office report the arrest of Steven Morelli for thirteen additional charges in the above listed crime.
Between June 2014 and May 2016 thirteen additional victims with a combined loss of $550,000.00 came forward regarding not receiving their settlement checks from the defendant. The investigation resulted in the arrest of the defendant at 7:00am on Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Defendant Steven Morelli is charged with three counts of Grand Larceny 2nd Degree and ten counts of Grand Larceny 3rd Degree. He will be arraigned in First District Court 99 Main Street Hempstead.