Ex-West Chester broker bilked millions from lenders, feds say

A former West Chester mortgage broker, John C. Lucidi Jr., 30, was charged yesterday with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in relation to a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme, said United States Attorney Zane David Memeger in a news release.

Lucidi, who presently resides in Las Vegas, is accused of a scheme between May 2005 and October 2008,  to defraud Bank of America, CitiMortgage, Countrywide Bank, First Magnus Financial, JP Morgan Chase, PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, and other mortgage lenders, the release said. During that time frame, he worked at Global Mortgage and Challenge Financial Investment Corp., both in West Chester, and Advisors Mortgage Group LLC in Newtown Square, court records said.

Lucidi allegedly found buyers, including family members, to purchase residences - primarily located in North Wildwood - for inflated prices so that the buyers could get kickbacks of tens of thousands of dollars at closing. He allegedly helped the buyers qualify for mortgages using false information, such as inflated incomes, resulting in losses to the mortgage lenders of approximately $7 million.  Although the buyers had good credit scores, they did not possess the income or assets necessary to purchase high-end shore properties, forcing foreclosures in which the lenders lost money, court records said.

Lucidi allegedly profited from the scheme by making inflated commissions on the transactions, by receiving kickbacks on his own purchases, and by receiving other kickbacks from the sellers of the properties for finding them willing buyers, facilitating approximately 35 transactions that involved inflated sales prices, court records said.  If convicted, he faces a maximum possible sentence of 65 years imprisonment.