|
TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that the owner of a title company
in Red Bank pleaded guilty today to stealing
$3.8 million in loan proceeds intended for
payment of mortgage balances and other closing
costs.
According
to Director Taylor, Ronald P. Mas Jr., 35,
of Red Bank, a mortgage broker, settlement
agent and owner of Olde Gotham Title and
Settlement Services LLC in Red Bank, pleaded
guilty before Superior Court Judge Thomas
V. Manahan in Morris County to an accusation
charging him with second-degree money laundering
and second-degree theft by failure to make
required disposition of property received.
Mas
admitted that between April 1, 2009 and
February 15, 2010, he stole $3,841,616 that
he received from various mortgage lenders
for real estate closings on behalf of 11
home buyers throughout New Jersey. Sentencing
is scheduled for Oct. 15.
The
state will recommend that Mas be sentenced
to 12 years in prison. He must execute a
consent judgment to pay full restitution
of $3,841,616 to the title company that
insured the mortgages.
“This
defendant stole millions of dollars entrusted
to him for real estate closings, funneling
the money into his personal investment account,”
said Attorney General Dow. “This was
a shameless betrayal of his fiduciary duty
as a settlement agent.”
“Through
major prosecutions such as this one, we
are working to combat mortgage and investment
fraud,” said Director Taylor.
Deputy
Attorney General Francine S. Ehrenberg took
the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal
Justice Major Crimes Bureau. The investigation
was conducted by Detective Martin Farrell
and Deputy Attorney General Ehrenberg, under
the supervision of Bureau Chief Terrence
Hull. They were assisted by Michael Rappa,
a volunteer attorney for the Division of
Criminal Justice.
The
state investigation revealed that Mas diverted
loan proceeds into his Ameritrade account.
Instead of paying off the client’s
old mortgage, Mas would make monthly mortgage
payments and invest the balance of the loan
proceeds into the Ameritrade account. Mas
made monthly payments on some mortgages
using funds from new loans provided for
clients. At the end of February 2010, Mas
had a total loss of over $3.4 million in
his Ameritrade account. As a result, 11
mortgages were not paid.
### |
