A Newark man faces criminal charges in Fort Lee, NJ for allegedly embezzling $345,000 from his real estate clients.

The suspect is a 41-year-old man who lives in Newark NJ and owns Live Realty, a realty company based out of Fort Lee in Bergen County, New Jersey. According to Bergen County prosecutors, the suspect kept $345K in down payments from his clients and used the money to cover his own personal expenses.

Five clients of the suspect’s company went to Fort Lee police to lodge complaints about their money being stolen by the suspect.

The Fort Lee Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit conducted a joint investigation into the alleged fraud and eventually determined that enough evidence existed to charge the suspect. Investigators claim that the suspect deposited the cash into his own bank accounts instead of holding the funds in escrow for his clients’ real estate purchases.

The suspect has been charged with multiple crimes, including failure to make lawful disposition of property received, theft by deception, and misconduct by a corporate official.

For additional information about this case, see the NJ.com article, “Real Estate Agent Arrested for Keeping Down Payments.”