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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Acting
Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni
announced that a Monmouth County woman pleaded
guilty to money laundering today in connection
with a series of mortgage and investment
scams allegedly orchestrated by her boyfriend
through which they stole more than $3 million
from victims.
An
investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice determined that Spiro Pollatos,
45, of Marlboro, allegedly conspired with
others, including his live-in girlfriend,
Crystal Velitschkow, 50, to steal more than
$2.5 million through fraudulent loan services
for which he collected excessive fees and
commissions. In addition, he allegedly induced
several victims to invest approximately
$890,000 to purchase the former Yellow Rose
Diner in Keyport. The deals were bogus and
the victims – including an 80-year-old
retiree who invested $500,000 – never
got ownership of the business.
The
investigation determined that from January
2004 through March 2007, Pollatos and Velitschkow
funneled more than $2.7 million in alleged
criminal proceeds through a personal bank
account in her name, using the money to
finance purchases of real estate, cars and
boats, and to pay other personal expenses.
According
to Acting Director Gramiccioni, Crystal
Velitschkow, 50, of Marlboro, pleaded guilty
today to second-degree money laundering
before Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent
Ahto in Morris County. Under the plea agreement,
she faces a sentence of 10 years in state
prison. The judge scheduled her sentencing
for Aug. 1.
“We
charge that this couple ruthlessly stole
millions of dollars from their victims,
frequently preying on members of the Greek
community who, in some instances, entrusted
the defendants with everything they owned,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “Today
Ms. Velitschkow admitted her part in the
fraudulent schemes, for which she faces
a lengthy state prison sentence.”
Also
today, Thomas Giannisis, 42, of Marlboro,
the owner of the Middletown Diner, pleaded
guilty to a third-degree charge of theft
by failure to make required disposition
of property received in connection with
the fraud involving the Yellow Rose diner.
The state will leave his sentence to the
discretion of the court. His wife, Maria
Giannisis, 33, agreed to waive indictment
and be charged by accusation with the same
charge. She was admitted today into the
Pre-Trial Intervention program.
State
investigators arrested Pollatos, Velitschkow,
Thomas Giannisis and three other defendants
on Dec. 19 on charges of conspiracy to commit
racketeering, theft and money laundering.
The state seized and placed liens on seven
bank accounts, five cars, three boats, 12
pieces of real estate and two diners –
the Middletown Diner on Route 35 in Middletown
and the former Yellow Rose Diner, now the
Village House Neighborhood Restaurant on
Route 36 in Keyport.
Pollatos
allegedly was at the center of the schemes.
Although Pollatos lost his state mortgage
broker’s license after pleading guilty
to theft in May 2001 in a mortgage fraud
scheme, he began operating a business called
Lenders’ Capital Mortgage Company
in Hackensack, which he licensed under the
name of Velitschkow’s brother-in-law,
Thomas J. Prussack, 47, of Keansburg. Prussack,
one of the other defendants charged in December,
represented himself as the owner.
Pollatos
targeted victims in the Greek community
who often were elderly. He advertised his
mortgage company in a Greek newspaper. Pollatos
offered to secure large loans for victims
who would not be able to get them in the
regular credit market. Pollatos and his
unlicensed co-defendants allegedly submitted
false information in processing loans and
charged clients excessive loan commissions
and fees, typically demanding the huge sums
for the first time at the loan closing.
In some cases, Pollatos allegedly stole
the majority of the loan proceeds. It is
alleged that the defendants defrauded clients
of more than $2.5 million through such schemes.
In
one instance, Pollatos took an $85,000 commission
on a $245,000 home equity loan. In another,
he allegedly kept $133,000 in check proceeds
that he was supposed to use to pay down
a first mortgage for the borrower. He mortgaged
homes beyond their value and the owner’s
ability to pay. For example, he secured
$418,500 in loans on a Keansburg property
worth only $215,000.
In
offering loans, Pollatos and his co-defendants
operated under the names Lenders’
Capital Mortgage Company, Investors’
Mortgage Company, which was the business
tied to his 2001 guilty plea, and a third
phony name that was similar to the name
of a legitimate licensed firm. The schemes
caused financial devastation for at least
20 victims and had an adverse impact on
two financial institutions that provided
loans.
“This
is a complex case involving at least 20
victims and numerous financial transactions,”
said Acting Director Gramiccioni. “The
investigators and attorneys involved skillfully
unraveled the defendants’ tangled
web of fraud to ensure that they will be
brought to justice.”
The
case was investigated by Detective Sgt.
Louis A. Matirko of the Division of Criminal
Justice Major Crimes Bureau. It is being
prosecuted by Deputy Attorneys General Rodger
Wolf, Janet Bosi, Patrick Flor and Marysol
Rosero. The case was referred to the Division
of Criminal Justice by the state Department
of Banking and Insurance. Investigator Thaedra
Chebra of the state Division of Taxation
and Chief Investigator Leona Joyner of the
Department of Banking and Insurance Enforcement
Bureau assisted in the investigation.
In
the fraud involving the Yellow Rose Diner,
Pollatos and Giannisis offered to become
partners with an 80-year-old retired food
supply salesman to run the diner. Through
Pollatos, the man mortgaged his home and
also obtained a home equity loan, investing
approximately $500,000 in loan proceeds
in the venture. While a $305,701 check from
the victim did go to the diner’s owner,
the sale of the business was not completed
and the victim never recovered his money.
It
is alleged that while Pollatos and Giannisis
were still dealing with the first victim,
Pollatos secretly solicited $150,000 from
a second investor, a woman, who also was
told she could run the Yellow Rose diner
with them as partners. The woman –
believing she had purchased the business
without the real estate, but with a lease
on the building – completed extensive
renovations, only to be evicted by the owner,
who told her that her lease was invalid.
The
other diner victims were Velitschkow’s
sister and brother-in-law, Prussack, who
gave Pollatos and Velitschkow $240,000 as
an investment in the diner. Pollatos and
Velitschkow allegedly spent the money on
personal expenses.
In
addition to Prussack, the other defendants
charged with Pollatos in the mortgage fraud
schemes are George Papas, 64, of Ridgewood,
Marco Sigona, 32, of Hackensack, and Mario
LaGrasta Jr., 35, of Little Ferry. Though
unlicensed, they allegedly assisted him
in soliciting and processing loans.
Three
of those defendants agreed this week to
waive indictment and be charged by accusation
with violation of the New Jersey Licensed
Lenders Act, a third-degree crime. They
were admitted by Judge Ahto into the Pre-Trial
Intervention Program, conditioned on their
providing truthful testimony in the state’s
investigation. Papas was admitted into PTI
on Tuesday, and Prussack and LaGrasta were
admitted into PTI today.
Pollatos
and Velitschkow are each being held in the
Morris County Jail. Bail for Pollatos is
set at $2 million.
Pollatos
is charged with first-degree money laundering,
second-degree conspiracy to commit racketeering,
and second-degree theft. Sigona is charged
with second-degree conspiracy to commit
racketeering. He is free on $5,000 bail.
The
charges against those defendants are merely
accusations and they are presumed innocent
until proven guilty.
The
first-degree money laundering charge carries
a maximum sentence of 20 years in state
prison and a criminal fine of up to $500,000.
Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence
of 10 years in state prison and a criminal
fine of $150,000.
Third-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of five
years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
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