Former Porn Lawyer Paul Nicoletti Is Going To Federal Prison For 70 Months After Committing Mortgage Fraud
Former porn lawyer Paul Nicoletti was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison. A federal jury found Nicoletti guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. They also found him guilty of three counts of bank fraud in 2019.
The former porn lawyer was indicted on four charges of bank fraud stemming from a real estate deal he was a part of in 2005. The charges were unsealed in 2015 and were published by the blog Fight Copyright Trolls.
Judge Roberts also ordered Nicoletti to serve two years on supervised release after his release. The court ordered him to pay restitution totaling $5,299,751.58.
Nicoletti was a lawyer who represented porn distributor Malibu Media. Nicoletti’s main client Malibu Media pursued mercilessly horny guys illegally downloading their porn off the internet. Nicoletti filed more than 4,300 illegal downloads lawsuits on behalf of Malibu since 2009 according to a report by Lex Machina.
Former Porn Lawyer And His Cohorts Operate Massive Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Nicoletti also owned a title company in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Nicoletti became involved in a scheme to obtain large mortgage loans from Fifth Third Mortgage. The scheme involved real estate developers, a corrupt loan officer, and Mr. Nicoletti. Together they obtained large mortgage loans from Fifth Third Mortgage for the purchase and development of high-end properties in suburban Detroit based on false statements. They gave false statements on both the application and during the closing process of the loans. As a result, Fifth Third released over eight million dollars in loan proceeds.
The conspirators would also find and recruit “straw buyers” to serve as mortgage loan applicants for the purchase of real property which the conspirators wanted to purchase and develop.
Nicoletti and his partners paid the straw buyers a fee for the use of their names and credit histories in the loan process. The fraudsters promised straw buyers a portion of the expected profit. The straw buyers had no intention of living at or actually exercising ownership of the property. In contrast to the claims in their applications, and in closing documents.
The straw buyers did not qualify for mortgages. Nicoletti’s partners in the scheme also provided false information pertaining to the straw buyers’ income and assets in the mortgage loan applications to qualify them.
Nicoletti’s role was to facilitate the fraudulent loans as the title agent. He falsely verified that the borrowers made substantial down payments on the properties.
Nicoletti obtained cashiers checks issued after the bank released the loan proceeds to his title company. The funds came from the loan proceeds themselves bearing the names of the straw buyers as “remitters.”
He then re-deposited them into his bank account making it appear as though the borrowers funded the substantial down payments.
Former Porn Lawyer Nicoletti Claims Fifth Third Pressured The Feds
The porn lawyer still claims he is innocent of any wrongdoing. He plans on fighting the charges. He claimed the allegations stem from a title company he ran ten years ago.
Nicoletti also claimed Fifth Third Bank pressured the feds to indict him. He also alleges Fifth Third sued everyone in Oakland County in 2005 and lost a lawsuit against his underwriter, First American.
Nicoletti said:
Their only hope is to convict me of a felony. So they’re putting pressure on the US Attorney’s office.
Federal prosecutors made the charges just months before the 10-year statute of limitations for Nicoletti’s alleged crimes.
Nicoletti told Ars Techina:
Nicoletti also claims Fifth/Third was processing the loans with a fast and loose attitude. They also failed to verify the information.
Nicoletti also personally destroyed and counseled the destruction of evidence of the fraud.
The Feds have received guilty pleas from Nicoletti’s five other cohorts. Nicoletti was the sixth person convicted as a result of this investigation.
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