11-15-04 -- Meyer, Allen J. -- Sentencing -- News Release

Monmouth County Lawyer Sentenced to 12 Months in Prison for "Land-Flipping" Scheme

TRENTON - A Monmouth County real estate lawyer was sentenced today to 12 months in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud conspiracy which defrauded the federal government of more than $500,000, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson also ordered Allen J. Meyer, 58, of Brick, to pay $566,338 in restitution to the federal government.

Meyer had practiced out of an office in Seagirt, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kirsch, the prosecutor who handled the case. Meyer pleaded guilty on Oct. 22, 2003, to one-count of conspiracy to make false statements.

Meyer was retained by others to serve as the closing attorney for Mortgage Acceptance Corporation, a now-defunct mortgage company which was located on Long Island, N.Y. In his capacity as closing attorney, Meyer admitted that he falsified dozens of mortgage loan applications and related documents on behalf of unqualified buyers. The applications and documents were submitted to the federal government in order to qualify for federal insurance for the loans, Kirsch said.

The U.S. Government, through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) , administers a mortgage loan insurance program to assist low and moderate income borrowers in purchasing homes by lowering the cost of mortgage loans to eligible individuals and to protect lenders by guaranteeing payment by the federal government in the event of loan defaults by bonafide purchasers.

According to the Information, Meyer engaged with others in fraudulent "land flips," in which residential real property was purchased by unqualified and ineligible "straw buyers" - those that had no genuine interest in owning or occupying the properties, and thus incurred little or none of the expenses of home ownership, but who allowed themselves to nominally appear to be the purchaser. Meyer admitted that his co-conspirators then quickly "flipped" or resold the properties at inflated prices to third-parties who had obtained mortgage loans insured through HUD. The fraudulent transactions involved properties in Asbury Park, Neptune, Long Branch, Lakewood, as well as other locations.

The investigation relating to others involved in the conspiracy remains active and ongoing.

Christie credited Special Agents with the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the direction of Ruth Ritzema, Special Agent In Charge in Newark; as well as Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Joseph Billy, Jr., Special Agent In Charge in Newark, with this investigation.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kirsch of the U.S. Attorney's Health Care and Securities Fraud Unit in Newark.

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Defense Attorney: Michael Wilbert, Esq. Brick