A Monmouth County grand jury returned a five-count indictment on Oct. 6 charging a West Virginia woman and a Georgia man in a conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud on a Farmingdale property, Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.
Vanessa Hoey, 37, of West Virginia, and Joseph Lantier, 37, of Georgia, are charged with one count of second-degree conspiracy, two counts of second-degree theft by deception and two counts of third-degree uttering a forged instrument.
An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office revealed that from July 2007 until October 2009, a mortgage was executed on a property at 50 Academy St., Farmingdale. Lantier sold the property to Hoey in July 2007, and on Nov. 27, 2007, Hoey filed a satisfaction of mortgage with the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office.
Hoey then sold the property in 2008 and represented that she owned 50 Academy St. free and clear. Hoey was given more than $330,000 in proceeds from the sale of the property, according to the prosecutor.
It was later determined that the satisfaction of mortgage was fraudulent, and there were, in fact, outstanding liens. Hoey also filed a second satisfaction of mortgage on a home equity line of credit in the amount of $222,000.
Hoey and Lantier were making payments on both mortgages well into 2009. An analysis of bank records showed that the proceeds from both false satisfactions were shared by Hoey and Lantier, according to the prosecutor.
Hoey is free on $100,000 bail, and Lantier is free after posting $75,000 bail.
A second-degree crime carries a maximum state prison sentence of up to 10 years. A third-degree crime carries a maximum sentence of three to five years in state prison.