Former title agent Anthony Capuozzo, 39, of Concord Township, Ohio, has pled guilty to conspiracy charges in connection with his role in a large northeast Ohio mortgage fraud ring that allegedly defrauded lenders out of millions, according the the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Capuozzo used his title agency, Family Title Services, to allow mortgage loan proceeds to be fraudulently and improperly distributed to other co-conspirators.  Capuozzo was involved in at least 33 fraudulent property deals in 2005 and 2006 worth at least $2 million, as part of a larger, multi-faceted mortgage fraud conspiracy which, according to prosecutors, involved dozens of participants and hundreds of properties in the Cleveland area.

According to prosecutors, participants in the scheme submitted false and fraudulent loan applications in order to obtain mortgages from several different banks.  Applicants falsified employment histories, overstated income, overstated assets, and  falsified intent to occupy the properties.  Others allegedly involved in the scheme arranged financing.

The conspiracy involved the use of false down payment checks, usually drawn from the bank account of the Real Asset Fund, which was owned and operated by the architects of the scheme.  Conspirators involved with Real Asset Fund would withdraw funds from the company's bank account in the form of official bank checks with a straw buyer listed as the remitter.  These checks were used only to create false documentation in order to fool lenders-- as soon as copies of the check were made, funds were re-deposited back into the Real Asset Fund account.

In his role as owner-agent for Family Title, Capuozzo would accept his co-conspirators copies of false down payment checks, checks which he knew were not actually used to fund transactions. Capuozzo would then create two sets of HUD settlement statements. One set, which was submitted to lenders along with the copies of bogus down payment checks, showed that a down payment was being made. The second set, which was not provided to the lender, accurately showed that no down payment was being made and in fact the buyer was actually receiving money back.

Capuozzo had been cooperating with authorities since shortly after his name was reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 2006 in connection with the mortgage fraud ring, according to his attorney.  Capuozzo's attorney denies that Capuozzo benefited from the scheme above and beyond the normal title-related fees he charged in the transactions, according to the Plain Dealer.