Pike County Man Indicted For Mortgage Fraud

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a Pike County man was arrested Wednesday by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on a federal charge of mail fraud related to participating in a scheme to obtain fraudulent mortgages during a three-year time period.

Carlson stated that Alex Gambini, age 42, of Greeley, Pennsylvania, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Tuesday, with using the mails to further a scheme in which false real estate appraisals and false employment documents were used by his company, First Advantage Financial, to qualify customers for inflated mortgages.

The indictment states that Gambini operated First Advantage Financial during 1999-2002 in Lake Ariel, Hamlin, and Old Forge, and that during that time period he instructed others to use false real estate appraisals and false employment documentation to qualify customers for inflated mortgages.

Gambini’s charge stems from a lengthy investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Three other people connected to the scheme–Benjamin Haughney, Richard Woods, and Guillermo Laureiro–have been charged and entered guilty pleas to mail fraud in federal court.

Carlson noted that if Gambini is convicted of the mail fraud charge, he faces a possible maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $1 million, a term of supervised release of up to five years, and a $100 special assessment.

Carlson noted that Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.

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An Indictment or Information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Grand Jury and/or United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant has pled guilty to the charges.