Florida Man Sentenced for Commercial Mortgage Fraud

After being found guilty of fraud and money laundering charges in connection to participating in a commercial mortgage fraud scheme, Larry P. Nardelli of Tampa, Fla., has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $26.3 million in restitution. According to A. Brian Albritton, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Nardelli and his co-conspirators agreed to purchase and immediately "flip" vacant land for double the money by falsely obtaining loans for the land. Nardelli entered into sham contracts that falsely represented to victim banks that the contract proceeds gave him the equity necessary to purchase the vacant land. The banks unwittingly loaned money for approximately 140% of the value of the land. The conspirators then purchased the land and distributed the excess funds among themselves in various amounts. The loans went unpaid. Two co-conspirators, Michael Tringali and closing attorney John Yanchek previously pleaded guilty and have been sentenced. One conspirator, Neil Mohamed Husani is in Jordan, and efforts are underway to extradite him back to Florida for prosecution.