Livingston Lawyer Found Guilty Of Stealing $873K Via Real Estate Scam

LIVINGSTON, NJ — An Essex County jury has found a Livingston attorney guilty of conspiring with others to steal more than $873,000 using the stolen identities of Puerto Rico residents, prosecutors say.

On Thursday, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office announced that a jury found Stephanie Hand, 52, of Livingston, guilty of second-degree charges of conspiracy, money laundering and theft by deception.

Prosecutors said that Hand – working with other conspirators - stole $873,520 from a lender by using stolen identities to file fraudulent mortgage loan applications for two bogus real estate transactions, falsifying settlement statements and diverting loan proceeds.

The verdict followed a three-week trial before Superior Court Judge John Gizzo in Newark. The charges were contained in a Feb. 6, 2014 superseding indictment stemming from an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice, with assistance from the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and U.S. Secret Service.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 12.

According to prosecutors, the state presented testimony and evidence at trial that Hand conspired with others, including Thomas D’Anna, 41, of Saddle Brook, in two fraudulent real estate sales between January 2009 and April 2009.

Prosecutors said that the sales involved properties at 248 River Road in Garfield and 91 Isabella Avenue in Newark. In both sales, D’Anna, or a company he owned, sold the property, while no actual buyer existed.

Hand and D’Anna then used identities stolen from residents of Puerto Rico to apply for loans for the purchases, submitting false bank statements and other false information to support the applications. The lender ultimately provided loans of $415,865 for the Garfield property, and $457,655 for the Newark property, prosecutors stated.

Hand was the attorney and settlement agent for both closings, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Hand filed false HUD settlement statements for each closing indicating the buyers/borrowers made required payments and the loan proceeds were properly disbursed. In reality, the prior mortgages on the properties were paid off, but the remaining proceeds from the sales were divided among D’Anna, Hand, and a third conspirator, Julio Concepcion, 52, of Passaic.

The properties were then sold at inflated prices that far exceeded what D’Anna paid for them. Only a few monthly payments were made on each of the new mortgage loans, prosecutors stated.

D’Anna pleaded guilty in January 2017 to a charge of second-degree conspiracy and faces a recommended sentence of five years in prison.

Concepcion pleaded guilty in October 2015 to first- and second-degree conspiracy charges and faces a recommended sentence of 10 years in prison.

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