A high-profile New York lawyer who once represented celebrities and night-life 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 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