Bergen Man Charged In $1M 'Shotgun' Real Estate Loan Scheme

Two real estate brokers and their Bergen County client were arrested and charged Thursday in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain lines of credit by using bogus information on applications, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Rafael Popoteur, 65, of Ridgefield Park, Simon Curanaj and Yonkers, New York, and Michael Arroyo, 58, of Bronx, New York were each charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, Fishman said.

According to the complaint, real estate brokers Curanaj and Arroyo allegedly conspired with Popteur from 2012 through January 2014 to fraudulently obtain several home equity lines of credit from banks on multiple properties in New York and New Jersey, authorities sad.

The three men allegedly used the names and personal information of homeowners, sometimes without their knowledge and falsified information on loan documents, Fishman said. They allegedly applied for several loans with multiple banks and used the same residential properties as collateral for the loans.

The men did not tell the banks that the properties either already had liens placed on them were already offered as collateral for a line of credit from another lender, Fishman said.

The two schemes caused banks to lose more than $1 million. Popoteur allegedly shared the proceeds obtained from the lines of credit, Fishman said.

Popoteur and the other men face a maximum potential penalty of $1 million and 30 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

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