Crime & Safety
Westwood Man Pleads Guilty in $2 Million Mortgage Scam
Raffi Oghlian pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
A Westwood loan officer pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to conspiring to commit wire fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
Raffi Oghlian, 38, admitted to conspiring with others to profit on the sale of over-priced homes in Newark, Atlanta and Naples, Fla., while working for the Hasbrouck Heights-based MJS Lending Inc., Fishman announced. Oghlian and others obtained mortgages for unqualified "straw buyers" with good credit scores but insufficient financial resources using phony documents.
The conspirators took the money from the mortgages and split it among themselves, according to Fishman. Oghlian acted as the loan officer for seven of the transactions, taking a portion of the $2 million loaned by MJS Lending, where he worked from February to November 2008.
Oghlian faces as many as 30 years in prison and fines as much as $1 million for the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 13, 2014.
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