Former Mayor Going To Jail For Fraud In South Jersey

WILLINGBORO, NJ — A town councilman and former Mayor of Willingboro was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for fraud involving real estate, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey said.

Nathaniel Anderson was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, one count of bank fraud, and two counts of making a false statement on a mortgage application.

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During the period from March 2015 to June 2017, Anderson and his business partner, Chrisone Anderson, conspired and agreed to coordinate a fraudulent short sale of a property in Willingboro.

The deal would transfer the property from Nathaniel to Chrisone and discharge a mortgage obligation on the site.

This would then induce a lender to issue a new mortgage on the property.

Chrisone filed mortgage documents containing false information, while Nathaniel aided and encouraged her to do so, officials said.

The misrepresentations included that the short sale was an "arm's length transaction," or a deal that was conducted on independent merits from one another.

The documents also showed Chrisone as having no prior business relationship with Nathaniel, that he would not continue to live at the home after the sale, and that Chrisone would stay there as her primary residence.

The mortgage obligation ended up being discharged, and cost a total loss of more than $200,000. The lender also issued a new mortgage on the property.

Chrisone was also sentenced to eight months of home confinement for her role in the case.

Both she and Nathaniel will be on a three-year supervised release program once their respective terms end, and were ordered to pay restitution of more than $221,000 to the victims.

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