Ramon Coscolluela, 30, Union, New Jersey, a commercial loan broker, was charged by a State grand jury with one count each of theft by deception (second degree) and attempted theft by deception (second degree). Coscolluela, owner of Templar Group LLC, Newark, New Jersey, allegedly falsified five loan applications submitted to Commerce Bank in 2007 and 2008 on behalf clients who paid him fees ranging from $1,000 to $6,000.

Four of the loan applications were rejected, but a fifth loan request for $100,000 was granted. When the borrower defaulted on the loan, it prompted a bank review of the other four applications Coscolluela had submitted. Each of the applications was allegedly found to contain inflated or false information not supplied by Coscolluela's clients. Applications submitted by Coscolluela on behalf of his clients typically contained false information about the liquid assets they possessed, the value of their homes and/or the net worth of their businesses. Coscolluela's clients were never refunded the fees he charged them.