Ex-Title Agent Gets 66 Months For Role In Closing Escrow On Seven Fraudulently Obtained Mortgages On Two Properties She Or Hubby Owned; Lying On Loan Docs, Failing To Record Dirty Deeds & Mortgages On Sham Sales Or Pay Off Existing Liens Among Bad Acts: Feds

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Newark, New Jersey):

• A former real estate title agent was sentenced today to 66 months in prison for carrying out a mortgage fraud scheme in which she obtained seven loans, totaling more than $3.7 million, on two properties located in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey and Belvidere, New Jersey, U.S Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
  
  Ania Nowak, 48, of Belvidere, previously pleaded guilty [...] to Count One of the superseding indictment charging her with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
  
  
  ***
  
  According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
  
  Ania Nowak was the owner and operator of A.N. Title Agency LLC and was an agent for Stewart Title Guaranty Company. Nowak had a duty to review a property’s title to determine ownership and the existence of any prior liens and truthfully disclose them in the title insurance documents. She also had a duty to issue title insurance policies to lenders guaranteeing there were no other liens so that they would be first in line to have the property sold if the borrower stopped making mortgage payments.
  
  Nowak also acted as a settlement agent and was required to disburse loan money in accordance with lender instructions, pay off any existing liens and record loan documents in the appropriate county clerk’s office.
  
  Nowak admitted her role in obtaining seven mortgage loans through fraudulent means, including: an April 2005 loan for her sham sale of the Wood-Ridge property to her husband, Zbigniew Cichy, 46, of Belvidere; a November 2005 refinancing loan for the Wood-Ridge property; a 2005 construction loan to build a house on the Belvidere property owned by Cichy; an August 2006 loan on the Belvidere property; May 2007 loans for a sham sale of the Belvidere property to another conspirator in the scheme, Kim Salvemini, 60, of Wallington, New Jersey ; Salvemini’s May 2007 refinancing loan on the Belvidere property; and Cichy’s November 2007 refinancing loan on the Belvidere property. Nowak admitted that, for each of the seven loans, she lied on loan documents, failed to pay off prior mortgages at closing, failed to record the mortgages and any deeds and that most of the loans went into default for non-payment.
  
  In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Nowak to serve three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay restitution of $2,050,975.34.
  
  Salvemini previously pleaded guilty to her role and was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay restitution of $881,324.00 on May 6, 2015. Cichy also pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay $2,050,975.34 in restitution on May 5, 2015.

Source: Former Warren County, New Jersey, Title Agent Sentenced To 66 Months In Prison For Her Role In Multi-Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud Scheme.