Six indicted for alleged roles in defrauding homeowners in New Rochelle, Yonkers

Six people, including a licensed real estate broker from New Rochelle and her husband, a real estate salesperson, have been accused of alleged roles in defrauding homeowners that involved stealing property deeds from three Westchester homes and fraudulently getting $2 million in loans, the Westchester County District Attorney’s office said.

The defendants, who have been indicted, are also accused of evading taxes, District Attorney Mimi Rocah’s office said in a statement issued Monday.

Two New Rochelle residential properties, and one Yonkers residential property facing bankruptcy or foreclosure, valued in total at nearly $2.5 million, were targeted, according to the District Attorney’s statement. Owners of two of the properties believed they were getting mortgage assistance when they signed over deeds to their homes to the defendants at a closing, according to the District Attorney’s office.

The homeowners who were expecting a refinanced mortgage faced eviction or were pushed out of their home, the statement said.

The third property, which was in bankruptcy proceedings, was acquired in a short sale and two of the defendants allegedly moved in and occupied it as their primary residence.

According to the District Attorney’s office, an indictment charged Marcia Campbell, 61, a licensed real estate broker of New Rochelle, with fourth-degree conspiracy, first-degree grand larceny, four counts of first-degree falsifying business records, four counts of second-degree grand larceny , two counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, three counts of third-degree criminal tax fraud, and two counts of fourth-degree criminal tax fraud. She was also charged with two counts of repeated failure to file a corporate tax return.

Campbell is accused of identifying financially distressed properties and promising mortgage help to homeowners “in order to induce them to sign the deeds to their properties” over to Campal Corp., a corporation she owned. It’s alleged she committed tax fraud, with the intent to evade taxes due for two other corporations under her name, Extreme Realty Associates and Extreme Taxes, between 2019 and 2022, and that she repeatedly failed to file corporate tax returns between 2019-2022, and filed false and forged corporate tax returns for Extreme Realty Associates in 2019.

Her husband, Fred Campbell, 64, a licensed real estate salesperson, was charged with fourth-degree conspiracy, first-degree grand larceny, first-degree falsifying business records, and two counts of criminal tax fraud, the statement said. The District Attorney’s office alleges that he acted as a straw purchase and loan guarantor for acquisition of residential properties, and that he used two entities under his name, 99 Patmore Ave Inc. and Gencamp LLC to”facilitate fraudulent transactions using doctored statements to prove liquidity with lenders.” It’s alleged he committed tax fraud, with intent to evade taxes due for those two entities in 2020.

Lawyers for the six accused could not be reached for comment.

The others accused in indictments are:

∎Anthony Chilliest, 53, a licensed attorney of New York City, is charged with fourth-degree conspiracy, first-degree grand larceny, three counts of first-degree falsifying business records, and three counts of second-degree grand larceny. The District Attorney’s office said he is also charged with five counts of fourth-degree criminal tax fraud, five counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, and third-degree criminal tax fraud. It’s alleged that he provided false and forged documents to title insurance companies and lenders, and committed tax fraud with the intent to evade taxes, and filed false and forged corporate tax returns.

∎Wayne Green, 48, of Lynbrook, who is accused of fourth-degree conspiracy, first-degree grand larceny, two counts of first-degree falsifying business records, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, and two counts of fourth-degree criminal tax fraud. Green worked with Marcia Campbell, the District Attorney's office alleged, to acquire financially distressed properties through which loans could be fraudulently procured. Green also allegedly submitted forged and false tax documents to the Small Business Administration, and committed tax fraud with the intent to evade taxes due for SAJ Marketing Consultants in 2020 and 2021.

∎Gerald Smith, 48, of Elmsford, was charged with fourth-degree conspiracy, first-degree grand larceny, three counts of first-degree falsifying business records, second-degree grand larceny , three counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, third-degree criminal tax fraud, and fourth-degree criminal tax fraud. The District Attorney’s office alleged that he made false entries in loan applications, and filed false and forged documents provided by co-defendants to ensure loans were procured.

∎Frank Palmer, 66, of the Bronx, described by the district attorney’s office as acting as a straw purchaser fraudulently representing himself to lenders. Palmer is accused of fourth-degree conspiracy, first-degree grand larceny, four counts of first-degree falsifying business records, four counts of second-degree grand larceny, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, and third-degree criminal tax fraud.

Michael McKinney is a breaking news reporter for The Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal and Times Herald-Record of Middletown.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Six indicted for alleged roles in defrauding Westchester homeowners