The owner of a title company that failed to pay off $5.3 million in unpaid balances on 34 outstanding mortgages on properties in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a recommended sentence of 10 years in state prison.
Louis Macaluso, 47, the owner and operater Affinity Title Agency Inc., had previously been hit with civil judgments to pay full restitution to the three title companies that had insured the titles on the properties and paid off the homeowners’ mortgages. Macaluso, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 3, has already made an initial payment of $700,000.
“Real estate sales frequently attract con artists because of the huge sums of money involved,” said Acting New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman in a statement. “It is particularly alarming, however, when individuals who run licensed businesses engage in theft, because their crimes undermine confidence in the industry. We will continue to work closely with the Department of Banking and Insurance to uncover such crimes and aggressively prosecute those who abuse their licenses.” Source: nj.gov