Father & Son Scammers Who Ripped Off Struggling Homeowners With Sale Leaseback Peddling Scam Cop Guilty Pleas To NJ State AG Charges After Earlier Pleading Guilty To Feds In Separate Prosecution

From the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General:

• Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced that a Monmouth County man has pleaded guilty in a scheme in which he stole more than a million dollars by promising to rescue homeowners who were facing foreclosure, but instead sold their homes to unwitting investors. His son previously pleaded guilty in the scheme.
  
  Vito Grippo, 58, of Jackson, pleaded guilty yesterday (Feb. 27) to a criminal accusation charging second-degree theft by failure to make required disposition of property received and third-degree money laundering before Superior Court Judge John Triarsi in Union County.
  
  Grippo’s son, Frederick P. Grippo, 32, of Old Bridge, pleaded guilty on Jan. 23 to a criminal accusation charging second-degree theft by deception.
  
  According to the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Vito Grippo be sentenced to ten years in state prison and that Frederick Grippo be sentenced to four years in state prison. In addition, Vito Grippo was ordered to pay full restitution. Frederick Grippo was ordered to pay $24,681 in fines.
  
  “This father and son ripped off struggling homeowners at the height of the national housing crisis,” Attorney General Chiesa said. “My office will continue to seek out those who prey upon unsuspecting homeowners and will prosecute these offenders to the full extent of the law.”

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• In pleading guilty, Grippo admitted that between Feb. 14, 2008 and Jan. 7, 2010, he stole $1.3 million by soliciting 12 financially distressed homeowners, saying he could rescue them from foreclosure and fix their credit rating by transferring title to their homes temporarily to a company called Morgan Financial.

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• Vito Grippo admitted to his role in the scheme in connection with 12 homes in Elizabeth, N.J., Brooklyn, N.Y. (3 homes), Jersey City, N.J., Staten Island, N.Y. (2 homes), Rutherford, N.J., Monroe, N.J., Somerville, N.J., Mine Hill, N.J., and Cambria Heights, N.Y.
  
  The investigation determined that he submitted fraudulent loan applications to obtain a total of more than $4.5 million to purchase the homes. Vito Grippo in turn stole more than $1.3 million in loan proceeds that should have been disbursed to the original homeowners as equity at closing.
  
  He diverted those funds into his companies’ bank accounts in order to launder the money. The investigation determined that he then disbursed the funds to himself and other co-conspirators.
  
  Frederick Grippo was involved in seven of the fraudulent loan applications and received checks from Morgan Financial for his participation in the fraud. Although Vito Grippo made some mortgage payments on the loans in the names of the investors, all of the homes ultimately fell into foreclosure. The original homeowners lost the properties and the investors’ credit ratings were ruined.(1)

For the NJ AG press release, see Father and Son Plead Guilty in a Scheme to Steal More Than $1.3 Million from Struggling Homeowners.

For the U.S Attorney press releases announcing the earlier guilty pleas on federal charges, see:

• Middlesex County, N.J., Man Admits Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Frederick Grippo),
• President Of Bogus Foreclosure Rescue Company Involved In Mortgage Fraud Pleads Guilty (Vito Grippo).

(1) For more on this type of foreclosure rescue ripoff, see:

• Criminal Prosecutions Of Sale Leaseback Peddlers In Equity Stripping Foreclosure Rescue Deals;
• Dreams Foreclosed: The Rampant Theft of Americans' Homes Through Equity-stripping Foreclosure 'Rescue' Scams (June 2005).