Archives For Tax Fraud

Man Admits to Fraudulent Short Sale Buy-Back Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  September 4, 2019 — Leave a comment

George Bussanich Sr., 60, Park Ridge, New Jersey, today admitted his role in a scheme with his son to use straw buyers and short sales on properties to defraud mortgage lenders out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and to avoid paying taxes on the proceeds of the scheme.

Bussanich Sr. pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court to a superseding information charging him with one count of bank fraud conspiracy and one count of tax evasion. His son, George Bussanich Jr., 39, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to tax evasion before Judge Cecchi in October 2017 and is scheduled to be sentenced September. 25, 2019.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Between 2009 and 2012, Bussanich Sr. and Bussanich Jr. conspired to defraud mortgage lenders through the sham short sales of two properties located on Jefferson Avenue, Emerson, New Jersey, and Lillian Street, Park Ridge, New Jersey.

Bussanich Sr. controlled various purported medical clinics and surgical centers in New Jersey. He recruited his business partner and an employee from a sleep clinic in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, to pose as legitimate, unrelated buyers of the properties. In order to conceal his involvement, Bussanich Sr. used a business entity he controlled to fund each short sale transaction and the subsequent repurchase of those properties. Bussanich Jr., the owner of record of both properties, negotiated the short sales with the lenders using materially false information that misrepresented the circumstances of the short sales, the relationships of the parties, and the source of funding for the transactions.

Approximately two years after the fraudulent short sales, Bussanich Sr. bought the properties back from the straw purchasers using money that he owed his business partner from an earlier venture.

Bussanich Sr. also failed to disclose on his tax returns hundreds of thousands of dollars in income that he received from his purported medical clinics and surgical centers. He used those funds to purchase high-end luxury vehicles worth a total of over $300,000, including two Land Rover sport utility vehicles and a Ferrari Spyder. He also used those funds to purchase official bank checks to fund the fraudulent short sales.

The bank fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum potential fine of $1 million. The tax evasion charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum potential $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 23, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito made the announcement.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, and special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John R. Tafur, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari B. Fontecchio of the Office’s Economic Crimes Unit, and Nicholas P. Grippo, Attorney in Charge of the Trenton Office.

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Former Settlement Agent Gets Prison For Refinancing Fraud

Stephanie Abbott —  March 12, 2018 — Leave a comment

Mark Andreotti, 47, Wyckoff, New Jersey, a former settlement agent, was sentenced today to 144 months in prison for defrauding banks out of $1.1 million using phony loan applications for properties in Bergen and Morris Counties, New Jersey, and for failing to pay over $450,000 in personal income taxes.

Andreotti was previously convicted on all six counts of an indictment charging him with bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, tax evasion, and failure to file tax returns..http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/?s=Andreotti

According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial:

In January 2010, Andreotti submitted a loan application to a bank requesting $625,000 to refinance the mortgage on his house in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Andreotti, who owned and operated Metropolitan Title and Abstract (Metropolitan), used Metropolitan as the settlement agent on the transaction. After the bank transferred the $625,000 for the refinance to Metropolitan’s escrow account, Andreotti spent the money on personal expenses instead of paying off the first mortgage on the house.

In April 2011, Andreotti conspired with another individual who worked as a real estate attorney to obtain $480,000 by claiming that the money would be used to refinance the mortgage on the attorney’s house in Montville, New Jersey. After the bank transferred the money for the refinance to Metropolitan’s escrow account, Andreotti kept $110,000 for himself before transferring the remaining funds to the other conspirator.

In 2010, the IRS initiated collection actions against Andreotti for unpaid personal income taxes. Despite numerous liens and levies and having five rental income properties in addition to his primary residence, Andreotti continued to evade his taxes. He also failed to file tax returns for the tax years 2010 and 2011.

Andreotti was convicted following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton, who imposed the sentence in Newark federal court.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wigenton sentenced Andreotti to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of over $2.1 million.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito made the announcement.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Steven Perez in Newark; special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark; special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen in Newark; and special agents with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Chen in of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlie Divine of the Federal Housing and Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General.

Defense counsel: Marc Neff, Esq., of Marlton

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short sale scheme

5 Year Sentence in Short Sale Scheme

Rachel Dollar —  August 17, 2015 — Leave a comment

Charise Stone, 46, Ashburn, Virginia, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for her role in a real estate short sale scheme that included tax and mortgage fraud, and passing fraudulent financial documents. Stone was also ordered to forfeit $721,552, and ordered to pay restitution of $2,441,174 to the victim financial institutions and the IRS.

Stone was found guilty by a federal jury on May 27, 2015 in the short sale scheme. According to court documents, from 2007 to 2010 Stone targeted distressed homeowners who owed more on their mortgage loan than the market value of the home with false promises of financial recovery. Stone acquired distressed homeowners’ properties in her own name or under entities she controlled, made false representations to mortgage lenders in order to induce approval of the short sales, and then re-sold the properties—often the same day or the next—to new buyers at a price above the short sale amount, in violation of agreements made with mortgage lenders. Continue Reading…

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