NEWARK -- State officials are trying to shut down the office of a Monmouth County man they say has posed as a doctor for nearly 30 years.

A complaint filed in Superior Court by the state Division of Consumer Affairs and the state Board of Medical Examiners accuses Raymond Salani Jr., the owner of Lifestyles Medical LLC in West Long Branch, of treating patients and writing prescriptions without ever having a license to do so in New Jersey.

Salani had been prosecuted criminally and civilly in the past but continued to practice medicine, state Attorney General Christopher Porrino said on Friday.

"Despite repeated civil and criminal actions against the defendant, he has allegedly chosen to continue to represent himself as a physician," Porrino said in a press release. "The egregious violations of consumer and patient protection laws alleged in this complaint will not be tolerated."

The business's website says it is a "professional team of medical, nutritional, psychophysical and counseling clinicians."

It says it offers services including bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, anti-aging medicine, stress management, medical weight loss, intravenous treatment and biofeedback.

A recording at the office identifies the business as "physicians for alternative medicine." A message left for Salani at the office had not immediately been returned on Friday.

In developing evidence for the case, the Division of Consumer Affairs sent undercover investigators twice o the office to pose as patients, which aided officials in getting a court order on April 11 to impound records there and from other locations where Salani practiced medicine.

Porrino said that in both visits, the undercover investigators, after speaking with Salani, were given prescriptions without having seen or spoken to a physician.

Consumer Affairs and the Board of Medical Examiners first sought to stop Salani from practicing medicine in 1989. He was held in contempt of court in 1994 and convicted of theft by deception in 1995 in connection with his unlicensed practice, authorities said.

During its investigation, the division discovered several instances where Salani and his son, Randy Salani, allegedly had offered medical advice to patients, Porrino said.

In one case, a male patient appeared to have a seizure, he said, and Salani and a doctor who was advertised as the office's medical director sought to minimize the situation by saying a hospital evaluation of the patient was not necessary, the complaint said.

"Such refusal bespeaks a desire to hide his unlawful conduct from the sight of the law at the detriment of his patient," a letter prepared by the state and accompanying the complaint says.

The investigation also revealed that the doctor advertised as the office's medical director was actually not involved in the day-to-day operations there, according to the complaint. It was Salani who interacted with new and existing patients, the complaint said.

The state is seeking a six-month prison sentence for contempt for Salani, Porrino said. Also, state officials want Salani to pay civil penalties, restitution to all the affected people and entities and costs associated with the prosecution of the case, Porrino said.

The division's Enforcement Bureau conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.