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Real Estate Fraud

Police & Fire
Bergen County Man Tricked 8 Victims Into Investing In Property For 'Redevelopment:' Prosecutor Bergen County Man Tricked 8 Victims Into Investing In Property For 'Redevelopment:' Prosecutor
Bergen County Man Tricked 8 Victims Into Investing In Property For 'Redevelopment:' Prosecutor A Bergen County man is facing charges after authorities say he tricked eight victims into paying thousands of dollars for Newark investment properties, which authorities said had not actually been designated for redevelopment. An investigation was launched into Jason S. McNeill, 48, of Wyckoff, last April, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musell said.  McNeill allegedly presented the eight victims with forged documents and solicited approximately $420,000 in total from them. McNeill told the victims that the money would go toward the purchase of investment properties, namely vacant lots f…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme
Bergen Dad, Son Busted Again, This Time In $2.5M Jersey Shore ‘Fix-and-Flip’ Scheme It seemed state and federal prosecutors had thrown all they could at a Bergen County father and son for a series of multi-million-dollar investment scams. But state authorities announced a new indictment against both men on Monday, Nov. 6. This time, George Bussanich, Sr., 65, of Park Ridge, and George Bussanich, Jr., 43, of Upper Saddle River, are charged with defrauding investors and mortgage lenders out of more than $2.5 million through a “fix and flip” investment scam involving Jersey Shore real estate. Victims believed they were funding the purchase, renovation, and resale of four…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
'Like Watching Him Go Through Chemo': Clayton Morris Moves To Portugal With Worried Wife 'Like Watching Him Go Through Chemo': Clayton Morris Moves To Portugal With Worried Wife
'Like Watching Him Go Through Chemo': Clayton Morris Moves To Portugal With Worried Wife A former FOX News talkshow host accused of being involved in a real estate Ponzi scheme have moved out of the U.S. Clayton Morris and his wife, Natali, first left their Florham Park for Pennsylvania, but have resettled in Portugal. Morris is facing more than two dozens lawsuits saying he organized a scheme that defrauded customers for his own financial gain when he sold them rental properties that were in much worse shape than advertised. Natali wrote on her website that the media attention and accusations were taking their toll on her husband, facing dozens of lawsuits from across th…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Jersey City Man Charged In House-Flipping Scam That Cost Banks Millions Jersey City Man Charged In House-Flipping Scam That Cost Banks Millions
Jersey City Man Charged In House-Flipping Scam That Cost Banks Millions A real estate investor from Jersey City has been charged for his part in a scheme to use false documents and other methods to artificially inflate the value of homes bought on short sale, U.S, Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said. Anthony Garvin, 49, was charged Tuesday with bank fraud conspiracy in an indictment superseding earlier charges of bank fraud filed in January. Garvin belonged to a group that allegedly bought homes with mortgages in default using home-equity loans obtained with false information and documents. The group would persuade a bank to sell the property at a los…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Suspended Garfield Lawyer Pocketed $90,000 Of Clients' Money For Himself, Authorities Charge Suspended Garfield Lawyer Pocketed $90,000 Of Clients' Money For Himself, Authorities Charge
Suspended Garfield Lawyer Pocketed $90,000 Of Clients' Money For Himself, Authorities Charge A Garfield attorney swiped $90,000 from two clients in real estate deals while he suspended from practicing law, said authorities who arrested him. Alfred Ramos, 38, “received the funds into his attorney’s trust account and then, instead of forwarding them to his clients, used them for his own purposes,” Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said. Ramos was under suspension at the time, under a July 3, 2018 order of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Calo said. He’s scheduled for a Feb. 13 first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court on two counts of misapplication of entrusted f…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Short-Sale Scheme: Hawthorne Scammer Admits Conning Lenders Out Of More Than $6M Short-Sale Scheme: Hawthorne Scammer Admits Conning Lenders Out Of More Than $6M
Short-Sale Scheme: Hawthorne Scammer Admits Conning Lenders Out Of More Than $6M A Hawthorne con artist admitted his role Tuesday in defrauding financial institutions and others of more than $6 million. Mehdi “Mike” Kassai, 36, was part of a group of thieves who convinced mortgage lenders to participate in short-sale deals – which allow homeowners in trouble to sell for less than they owe on their mortgages, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said. Kassai told a federal judge in Newark on Tuesday that he used bogus documents and buyers, damaged properties to lower their apparent value and “restricted the ability of others to bid and buy those properties,” Carpenito said. “T…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Ridgefield Park Man Gets House Arrest For $495,000 'Shotgun' Real Estate Scheme Ridgefield Park Man Gets House Arrest For $495,000 'Shotgun' Real Estate Scheme
Ridgefield Park Man Gets House Arrest For $495,000 'Shotgun' Real Estate Scheme A Ridgefield Park man was sentenced Thursday to three years of supervised release, including one year of house arrest for using bogus information and simultaneous loan applications at various banks to fraudulently obtain home equity lines of credit -- a practice known as “shotgunning.” Rafael Popoteur, 65, admitted in federal court in Newark in June 2017 that he conspired with real estate broker Michael Arroyo, 60, of the Bronx, who was sentenced Thursday to 21 months in federal prison. From 2012 through January 2014, Arroyo and others conspired to fraudulently obtain multiple home equity l…

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by Jerry DeMarco