A Largo, Fla., man was charged with four counts of bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
James John Melis was charged with carrying out a mortgage-origination fraud scheme against a financial institution for two properties he owned. To deceive the mortgage lender into believing he was a qualified borrower, Melis used the personal identification information of another person on loan applications, and prepared and submitted false and fraudulent IRS income tax returns, fictitious satisfactions of mortgages falsely representing that his properties had equity and lease agreements falsely showing he received substantial rental income.
As part of this scheme, Melis used the identification of other individuals and forged their signatures on the fictitious satisfactions of mortgage and phony lease agreements submitted to the mortgage lender. Based on Melis’ misrepresentations, the financial institution approved and funded both mortgage loans.
The indictment also alleges Melis abused his position as business manager at a private school in Tampa, Fla., by attaching his personal bank account to the school’s PayPal account without authorization. When parents made tuition payments to the school’s account, Melis initiated fraudulent electronic funds transfers to his personal account. He then spent the stolen funds on travel and luxury items, such as jewelry.
This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.