‘NIGHTLIFE’ GUY IS A LOWLIFE: DA
Lawyer who repped celebs charged with stealing $3.8M from real estate clients
A high-profile New York lawyer who once represented celebrities and nightlife dignitaries is accused of stealing nearly $3.8 million from several Brooklyn real estate clients, many of them elderly.
Salvatore Strazzullo, 51 — who repped clients like rapper Foxy Brown and a former nightclub owner accused of sucker-punching a member of Monaco’s royal family — was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday on grand larceny and scheme to defraud charges.
Strazzullo lived large off his clients’ money in his escrow account from June 2021 to this past March after they made seven-figure home sales, running a Ponzi scheme by taking money from new clients to pay off older ones, prosecutors allege.
All the while, he raided the escrow account to pay for a posh lifestyle — $50,000 at restaurants like Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, Cipriani and Ponte Vecchio; nearly $100,000 for a BMW and a driver; about $60,000 for hotels in Paris and Miami, and about $406,000 for a $13,000-a-month apartment in Battery Park City, prosecutors allege.
It’s the second indictment against Strazzullo, who in December was charged with stealing about $1.5 million from three other Brooklyn real estate clients.
He also made cash withdrawals totaling approximately $970,000, prosecutors allege.
“This defendant is accused of stealing a tremendous amount of money that represents the nest eggs of his victims, senior citizens who trusted him to handle their affairs,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who’s asking other potential victims to contact his office.
Strazzullo was a fixture in tabloid news stories for decades, notably representing ex-Scores stripper Milana Dravnel in a 2008 lawsuit against boxing champ Oscar de la Hoya that hinged on the authenticity of photos of de la Hoya in fishnets and a tutu.
A 2012 New York Times feature dubbed him the “Night-Life Lawyer” for his work representing low-level celebrities who get in legal trouble while out clubbing, as well
He represented former bikini bar investor Adam Hock, who punched Prince Pierre Casiraghi of Monaco, Grace Kelly’s grandson, during a Feb. 12, 2012, melee at Double Seven in the Meatpacking District. Hock got 10 days of community service after pleading to disorderly conduct.
Strazzullo also represented Foxy Brown, who was accused of violating an order of protection by mooning her neighbor in 2010, three years after she was convicted of beaning the woman with a BlackBerry. The neighbor refused to testify in 2011, and the charges were dropped.
According to prosecutors, he stole nearly $1.3 million from an 86-year-old man and an 81-year-old woman after they sold their Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, family home. The money went into his escrow account and he never gave it to them, then stopped returning their calls and emails, prosecutors allege.
He did the same in four other home sales, prosecutors said. He’s accused of stealing more than $933,000 from a 90-yearold man and 88-year-old woman who sold their Kensington, Brooklyn, home for $1.6 million, and he fleeced one family out of almost $700,000 in two separate home sales in Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.
Last May, he represented a 75-year-old man as executor of his cousin’s estate, and swiped more than $870,000 worth of the $1.9 million from selling the cousin’s Borough Park, Brooklyn, home, prosecutors allege.
Strazzullo, who was released without bail Wednesday, did not return messages seeking comment. His lawyer declined to comment.