New Jersey Man Sentenced for Eastern Shore Bank Fraud Conspiracy
| U.S. Attorney’s Office March 21, 2011 |
NORFOLK, VA—James C. Alberts, 45, of Point Pleasant, N.J., was sentenced in Norfolk federal court today to four and one-half years in prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud, and was ordered to pay over $1.7 million in restitution. Alberts previously pled guilty to the charge on December 6, 2010.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after Alberts was sentenced by United States District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.
According to court documents, Alberts was involved in a conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud on various properties located in the Cape Charles area of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The court records indicate Alberts was a co-owner of Creative Property Development, a company involved in the purchase, development, and sale of real estate property in Northampton County, Virginia. Alberts sold real estate developed by Creative Property Developments to his fellow co-conspirators. To affect the sales, Alberts provided the co-conspirators with the necessary funds to make the down payments and qualify for mortgage loans, but did not disclose this arrangement on the mortgage loan applications. As a result of these sales, Creative Property Developments earned hundreds of thousands of dollars of profit on these properties. Because of his actions, Alberts’ co-conspirators fraudulently obtained mortgage loans valued in excess of $2.8 million.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Robert J. Seidel, Jr. and Joseph L. Kosky prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov.