Suspended lawyer Richard M. Roberts, as of July 23rd, 2019, is guilty of stealing $20,000 from client funds in order to pay alimony. Roberts, who is 81 and resides in Bloomfield, pleaded guilty to the following charges: third-degree perjury and third-degree theft by failure to make required disposition of property received. Along with pleading guilty, Roberts had to witness his former law partner, Gerald Saluti Jr., taking the stand and testifying against him.
Story by Malik
The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) had been investigating Saluti and Roberts since December of 2012, which was the start of the lawyers’ plot to take funds from their firm’s attorney trust account.
The OPIA revealed that both men continued this conspiracy until August of 2013, where they dissolved their partnership Roberts & Saluti LLC. In that time span, both men had stolen around $140,000 from four clients. Not long after, their law licenses were suspended in New Jersey, with Saluti being suspended in February 2014 and Roberts in August 2015.
The Bloomfield ex-lawyer also revealed that he lied under oath that he did not permit Gabriel Iannacone, who was the firm’s practice administrator, pay his alimony through the trust fund. Roberts did in fact authorize and know about Iannacone’s payments. The now-deceased Iannacone did plead guilty to a third-degree conspiracy charge back in 2017 because of his illegal withdrawals and use of the attorney trust account.
In regards to Roberts’s and Saluti’s plot, Attorney General Grewal said, ““Instead of upholding the law and acting with honesty and integrity, as was his duty as an attorney, Roberts stole funds from his clients. He betrayed his oath and the clients who trusted him.”
“I commend the attorneys and detectives who secured this guilty plea, which holds Roberts accountable for stealing funds from his clients,” said Director Thomas Eicher of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. “There are strict rules and fiduciary obligations concerning attorney trust accounts, but Roberts treated his firm’s trust account like his own personal bank account to pay alimony.”
Before the Roberts trial, Saluti also pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy on February 21st of this year, forcing the 51 year-old to forfeit his law license and pay $137,652 in restitution. He is expected to be sentenced on the 5th of September.
