Pennsylvania man teamed up with closing agents in mortgage scam

The man faces up to 120 years' imprisonment

By Francis Monfort

31 May 2018

A Pennsylvania man has been found guilty by a federal jury of bank, mail, and loan fraud after misappropriating more than $643,000 from real estate closings, according to US Attorney William McSwain.

Dean Rossi owned a number of low-income properties throughout the Philadelphia area. He obtained bank loans to purchase or refinance residential properties. However, Rossi teamed up with corrupt title and closing agents to divert a portion of the loan proceeds. As a result, he misappropriated more than $643,000 from real estate closings. Rossi then pocketed cash from the settlements that should have been used to pay off prior mortgages and tax liens.

To prevent his scheme from being detected, Rossi continued making payments on prior existing mortgage years after the loans were supposed to have been fully paid.

Rossi faces a maximum possible sentence of 120 years’ imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and a $4 million fine.

“Our investigators and trial team did a phenomenal job of following a trail of evidence that goes back more than a decade,” McSwain said. “The defendant went to great lengths to cover his tracks, but due to the hard work of our agents and prosecutors, his long-running scheme was exposed.”