N.J. man pleads guilty to wire fraud, identity theft in fraudulent Pocono property sales

A suspended New Jersey attorney has pled guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges stemming from property sales in Pocono Pines.

U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Gerard M. Karam announced Tuesday that Scott Marinelli, 52, of Mountainside, has pled guilty to six counts of aggravated identity theft and six counts of wire fraud.

According to an indictment, Marinelli owned and operated Mountain Lakes Abstract Company, Inc., which provided real estate services in Pocono Pines from June 2017 to January 2019, though he was not a licensed real estate broker.

Somewhere between November 2017 to January 2019, Marinelli sold the properties of three victims without agreements in place and without informing the victims. He posed as other people while communicating with San Francisco mortgage lender LendingHome Funding Corperation, and fraudulently used the identity of a licensed Pennsylvania title agent and a licensed notary public to close on the properties, according to the indictment.

Furthermore, he falsified deed document signatures to receive money from LendingHome and did not turn the proceeds of the transactions over to the victims.

He sold six properties this way, according to the indictment, and received about $282,000 from LendingHome.

Marinelli, who had previously pled not guilty, changed his plea to guilty on Monday. He faces up to 120 years for the wire fraud charges and two to 12 years on the aggravated identity theft charges.

Max Auguliaro is the public safety and government watchdog reporter at the Pocono Record. Reach him at MAugugliaro@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: New Jersey man pleads guilty in Pa. to wire fraud, identity theft