Crime & Safety

FBI: Former Newtown Square Mortgage Broker Charged with Wire Fraud, Money Laundering

John C. Lucidi, Jr. was involved in a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme while working as a mortgage broker in Newtown Square.

PHILADELPHIA—The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of Philadelphia announced on Monday that John C. Lucidi, Jr., 31, of Las Vegas, NV, was charged by Information with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in relation to a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.

Between May 2005 and October 2008, while employed as a mortgage broker by companies in Newtown Square and West Chester, Lucidi conspired to knowingly devise a scheme to defraud Bank of America, CitiMortgage, Countrywide Bank, First Magnus Financial, JP Morgan Chase, PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, and other mortgage lenders, and to knowingly obtain money and property from Bank of America, CitiMortgage, Countrywide Bank, First Magnus Financial, JP Morgan Chase, PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, and other mortgage lenders, according to information provided by the FBI.

Lucidi allegedly found buyers, including family members, to purchase residences–primarily located at the shore in North Wildwood, NJ–for inflated prices so that the buyers could get "kickbacks of tens of thousands of dollars at closing."

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According to the FBI, Lucidi allegedly helped the buyers qualify for mortgages using false information, such as inflated income and asset information, false employment information, and under-reported debt information.

The FBI states that Lucidi's scheme resulted in losses to the mortgage lenders of approximately $7 million.

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"Although the buyers had good credit scores, many of them were in low-paying jobs or were unemployed, and did not possess the income or assets necessary to purchase high-end shore properties," said the FBI. "Most of the buyers made few or no payments on their mortgages, causing the lenders to foreclose on the properties and attempt to resell them to recoup some of their losses."

At or after the real estate closings, the buyers received kickbacks of around $30,000 to $50,000. Lucidi allegedly profited from the scheme by making inflated commissions on the transactions by receiving kickbacks on his own purchases, and by receiving other kickbacks from the sellers of the properties for finding them willing buyers.

According to the information provided by the FBI, Lucidi facilitated approximately 35 real estate transactions that involved inflated sales prices.

If convicted, Lucidi faces a maximum possible sentence of 65 years in prison, a three-year period of supervised release, a $1.5 million fine or a fine of $500,000 plus up to twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the money laundering transactions, and a $600 special assessment. Full restitution also shall be ordered, according to the FBI.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, and the United States Secret Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nancy E. Potts.


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