Staten Island Man Gets Seven Years In Loan Modification Racket; Admitted He Tricked Two Homeowner/Couples Into Believing He Successfully Renegotiated Their Home Mortgage Terms, Then Duped Them Into Turning Over The Monthly Payments To Him For Remittance To Lenders; Scammer Illegally Pocketed Over $185K

From the Office of the Monmouth County, New Jersey Prosecutor:

• A Staten Island man was sentenced [] to seven years in a New Jersey state prison for stealing more than $187,000 from a pair of homeowners over a 33-month period, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
  
  Mario Coniglione, 51, of the Tottenville section of Staten Island, was sentenced by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci, Jr., on two counts of second degree Theft and was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $187,562.40 to the two victims.
  
  At his guilty plea in December, Coniglione admitted he took payments from a Freehold couple totaling over $100,000 paid to him while purporting to act as a "broker," deceiving the couple into believing he had renegotiated the terms of their residential mortgage with their lender.
  
  Coniglione collected regular monthly payments from the couple, who believed the payments were being made towards their residential mortgage, and kept the payments for himself rather than forwarding the payments to the victim's lender.
  
  Coniglione also admitted he stole more than $78,000 in mortgage payments from a Jackson Township couple in a similar scheme.

Source: New York Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Theft of Mortgage Payments (Staten Island Man Stole More Than $187,000 for Mortgage Payments).