Alex Gambini, the former owner of First Advantage Financial Services, Hamlin, Pa., will spend at least four years in prison for participating in a fraud scheme where he inflated property mortgages.
Middle District of Pennsylvania Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edwin Kosik sentenced Gambini late last week to a 51-month prison term. Gambini previously pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aiding and abetting.
Indicted in October 2008 by a federal grand jury, Gambini hatched a plot where operators and employees at the financial services firm used inaccurate appraisals and false documents -- including W-2 forms and employment records -- to qualify customers for higher mortgages and loans between 1999 and 2002.
Subsequently, the mortgagors defaulted on their loans, leading to losses for several banks and financial institutions ranging $1 million to $2.5 million.
Prosecutors said there were between 10 to 50 victims who suffered under the scheme.
Gambini is the first of four defendants to be sentenced. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to pay restitution, but the court deferred ruling on the matter for 90 days.
