Photo Courtesy of DA Katz
“My office will continue to investigate, prosecute and seek justice for victims when scammers try to take advantage of Queens homeowners,” DA Katz said.
By Forum Staff
Three men and their company have been indicted for their roles in a Cambria Heights home foreclosure scam, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
Jonathan Marcus, 53, of Long Beach, L.I.; Vincent Longobardi, 76, of Brooklyn; and Edward Doran, 46, of Orange County, N.Y., are all charged along with the corporation East Coast Money Finders, Inc., in a 12-count indictment.
According to the charges, between April 2010 and January 2016, three separate written inquiries were made to the City Department of Finance about unclaimed surplus funds related to the 2006 foreclosure auction of a house in the Cambria Heights neighborhood of Queens. In April 2010, Longobardi contacted the NYC Department of Finance to confirm that surplus funds related to a 2006 foreclosure sale were being held. Another inquiry was made by Marcus in February 2012 and in December 2015, Longobardi allegedly filed a third request on behalf of East Coast Money Finders. In January 2016, Doran contacted the NYC Department of Finance to inquire about missing documentation necessary to claim the surplus money, and Marcus followed up a few days later by submitting the missing documentation.
In April 2015, DA Katz said, East Coast Money Finders, Inc. allegedly filed a motion in Queens County
Supreme Court, claiming it was assigned rights to the surplus funds totaling nearly $350,000. In support of this motion, two documents purportedly signed by the rightful owners of the house, and Marcus, who was and still is the president of East Coast Money Finders. Inc., were filed with the court. The purported signatures of the victim and her late husband on these forged documents were notarized by Doran.
According to the charges, this motion outlined that the surplus funds which were in excess of the amount owed on the home that was foreclosed on and sold at auction would be divided between the company and the couple who had once owned the home.
After the defendants provided the NYC Department of Finance with all the necessary paperwork, including a court order that was based on the forged documents authorizing distribution of the funds, a NYC Department of Finance check for $394,216 was deposited into East Coast Money Finders, Inc.’s bank account, which was controlled by Marcus. Longobardi and Doran allegedly received checks for nearly $130,000 from the account. Several thousand dollars were also allegedly transferred from the East Coast Money Finders, Inc. account to the personal bank account of Marcus.
According to the investigation, the scheme was revealed in January 2021, when the widow who owned the home with her husband at the time of the 2006 foreclosure sale attempted to claim the surplus funds for herself from the NYC Department of Finance. Neither the 67-year-old woman nor her husband when he was alive signed any documents giving anyone else access to the funds. The victim said neither she nor her late husband received any of the $350,000 that was disbursed in February 2016.
“My office will continue to investigate, prosecute and seek justice for victims when scammers try to take advantage of Queens homeowners,” Katz said.
If convicted, the three men face up to 15 years in prison. East Coast Money Finders, Inc faces a fine up to $788,000 or double the amount it profited from the crimes.
