Spring Data jpa save () method does not work, returning an object with id null

@Entity(name = "TB_CLIENTES")
public class Cliente implements Serializable {

private static final long serialVersionUID = -9073849407172730391L;


@Id   
@Column(name = "CLI_ID", nullable = false)
@GeneratedValue(strategy=GenerationType.IDENTITY)


private Long id;

// A tabela de Cliente se relaciona com Lojista,
// porém através do campo Cliente.CLI_LOJISTA <=> Logista.LOGIN_USER_LOGIN <=>
// LoginUser.LOGIN_USER_LOGIN,
// e não através do ID.
// O relacionamento não é adicionado da maneira correta aqui pois isso degrada a
// performance, bem visível nos logs de SQL do hibernate.

// @NotNull
// @ManyToOne
// @JoinColumn(name = "CLI_LOJISTA", nullable = false, referencedColumnName =
// "LOGIN_USER_LOGIN")
// private Lojista lojista;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_LOJISTA", nullable = false)
private String lojistaLogin;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_NOME", nullable = false)
private String nome;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_ENDERECO", nullable = false)
private String endereco;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_NUMERO", nullable = false)
private String numero;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_BAIRRO", nullable = false)
private String bairro;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_CIDADE", nullable = false)
private String cidade;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_UF", nullable = false)
private String uf;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_CEP", nullable = false)
private String cep;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_FONE1", nullable = false)
private String fone1;

@Column(name = "CLI_FONE2")
private String fone2;

@Column(name = "CLI_OBS")
private String obs;

@Column(name = "CLI_EMAIL")
private String email;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_RG", nullable = false)
private String rg;

@NotNull
@Column(name = "CLI_CPF", nullable = false)
private String cpf;

@Column(name="CLI_PHOTOCLI", nullable = true)
private String foto;

Controller interface and its implementation

@RequestMapping(value = "/new", method = RequestMethod.POST,
    consumes = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, 
    produces = {MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE})
ClientVm newCliente(@RequestBody Cliente edit) 
        throws BadRequestException, NotFoundException ;


@Override
public ClientVm newCliente(@RequestBody Cliente cli)throws BadRequestException, NotFoundException  {
    validator.validateCpf(cli.getCpf());
    try {
        return business.newCliente(cli);
    } catch (IOException ex) {
        Logger.getLogger(ClientServiceImpl.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
    }
    return null;
}

Business layer and repository (used JPARepository)

public ClientVm newCliente(Cliente cli) throws NotFoundException, FileNotFoundException, IOException {
    LoginUser currentUser = clientBusiness.getCurrentUser();
    cli.setLojistaLogin(currentUser.getLoginLojista());
    //cli.setFoto(getPhotoBase64Image(cli.getId()));
     String fileName = null;
    String patch = null;

    if (!cli.getFoto().equals("")){
        byte[] data;
        Date curDate = new Date();

        SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy-hhmmss");

        fileName = "Logos/photocli/"+cli.getLojistaLogin()+"-"+cli.getCpf()+"-"+format.format(curDate)+".jpg";

        patch = Constants.PHOTO_CLI_PATH +fileName;

        data = Base64.getDecoder().decode(cli.getFoto().getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
        try (OutputStream stream = new FileOutputStream(patch)) {
            stream.write(data);
        }
        System.out.println("Salvando base de dados em "+patch);
        cli.setFoto("~/"+fileName);
    }
    Cliente cliRepo = clienteRepository.saveAndFlush(cli);
    clienteRepository.flush();
    ClientVm clienteReturn = new ClientVm(cliRepo);
    //clienteReturn.setFoto(getPhotoBase64Image(cliRepo.getId()));
    return clienteReturn;

}