John Melchionna, 42, a former Linden, New Jersey, resident was arrested and charged with 13 separate counts after an investigation revealed that he used another man's identity to secure $270,000 in loans. Melchionna a faces charges of theft by deception, identity theft and forgery.
According to the complaints, Melchionna used the money, obtained by using a business associate's name, to purchase real estate in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He then forged the associate's name on mortgages to secure the loans.
In addition, Melchionna was charged with running up approximately $300,000 in credit card charges between 2006 and 2008 on credit cards he obtained in the victim's name. The credit card statements and correspondence regarding the real estate transactions used the address of an investment property the victim owned in Linden, New Jersey where Melchionna collected the rents on his behalf while also intercepting the victim's mail.
The victim went to the Linden Police in New Jersey in December 2008 when he ran a credit check on his name and discovered numerous mortgages and credit cards had been taken out by Melchionna in his name.
Melchionna is currently under indictment for using another friend's identity in November 2007 to obtain a $40,000 loan from The Hamilton Group, a New York lender. In that case, authorities allege that Melchionna secured the loan by preparing fraudulent invoices for non-existent accounts receivable. The fraud was discovered when the owner of The Hamilton Group contacted the company listed on the fraudulent invoices and demanded payment.
The charges were filed following an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office and Linden New Jersey Police Department Detective Mark Case.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.