Page 4 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2023 Lynn CPA Sentenced for Mortgage and Tax Offenses in Decade-Long Fraud Scheme BOSTON – A Certifi ed Public Accountant (CPA) from Lynn was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for creating fraudulent tax returns and submitting fraudulent letters to lenders in a multi-year mortgage fraud scheme. David Plunkett, 57 was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to time served (approximately one day in prison) and three years of supervised release. Plunkett was also ordered to pay $147,500 in restitution to victims and $64,284 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. In February 2019, Plunkett pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aiding in the submission of false tax returns. Plunkett was charged in September 2018 along with co-defendants Joseph Bates III and George Kritopoulos. In October 2022, Kritopoulos was sen- LEGAL NOTICE - of requesting that the court enter a Decree changing their name to: tenced to four years in prison and two years of supervised release after being convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, six counts of bank fraud, one count of aiding the preparation of a false income tax return and one count of obstruction of justice. Kritopoulos was also ordered to pay restitution to lender victims in the amount of $2,238,354 and forfeiture of $700,000. On Jan. 25, 2023, Bates was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud aff ecting a fi nancial institution and two counts of bank fraud. Bates was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,238,354 and forfeiture of $700,000. From 2006 through 2015, Bates, Kritopoulos and Plunkett engaged in a scheme to defraud banks and other fi nancial institutions by causing false information to be submitted to those institutions on behalf of borrowSCAM | FROM Page 2 Every time he was supposed to come to see me, another emergency would happen, and he needed more money from me.” Unfortunately, if you send money to the scammer, it will be gone for good. The person you fell in love with doesn’t exist. To make matters worse, con artists ers – people recruited to purchase properties – located primarily in Salem, Mass. The properties were usually multi-family buildings with two-to-four units, which Kritopoulos and Bates then converted into condominiums. Kritopoulos recruited new borrowers to purchase the individual condominium units. Kritopoulos also recruited Plunkett to prepare false tax returns in the names of the buyers to support the fraud scheme. Together, Kritopoulos and Bates created other false documents and provided them to lenders to obtain fraudulent mortgages for fi nancing the purchases. The false information submitted to lenders included, among other things, representations concerning the borrowers’ employment, income, assets and intent to occupy the property. Specifically, the false employment information included representations that borrowers were employed by entities that were, in fact, shell companies “owned” by Kritopoulos and were used to advance the will repeat the emergency scenarios until you realize the scam or run out of money – whichever comes fi rst. How to avoid dating scams • Know the signs of romance Honor and Respect. We’ll be closed Monday, February 20th in observance of the holiday. You can access your accounts using our ATMs and Online & Mobile Banking. Thank you! scams. Romance scams often start with someone who seems too perfect and immediately falls in love with you. The person might be in a hurry to create a future together but hesitant to meet you in person. They might tell you they are overseas or in the military. They often talk about the importance of trust to gain yours, and they might share sad stories to pull on your heartstrings before asking you for money. Any one of these tactics is a big red fl ag. If you notice similarities with someone who has messaged you on social media, think twice about your relationship. • Never send money or personal information to someone you haven’t met. Refrain from giving a stranger your credit card or bank account information. Don’t wire money to or share the PIN of a gift card with someone you’ve never met. An online “friend” might not even really exist! • Ask lots of questions. When you meet someone online, ask them specifi c questions about fraudulent scheme. The employment information also included false representations about the income that the borrowers received from the entities, when the borrowers actually received little or no income from them. Furthermore, the income asserted on the borrowers’ loan applications substantially overstated their true income. The false information also included representations that the recruited borrowers intended to live in the properties that they were purchasing, when they did not intend to do so. Plunkett assisted the scheme by preparing tax returns for some of the borrowers that contained false and infl ated income. Some of those tax returns were submitted to lenders in support of the fraudulent loan applications. Plunkett also signed letters falsely representing that his CPA fi rm had prepared corporate tax returns for one of the shell entities, when in fact no such returns had ever been prepared or fi led. The borrowers did not have the fi nancial ability to repay the loans, therefore in all but two instances among 21 properties, they defaulted on their loan payments, resulting in foreclosures and losses to the lenders. the details in their profi le and pay close attention to their answers. If they lie, they likely won’t be able to keep their story straight. • Do some research. Do a reverse image lookup of a person’s profi le picture to see if it is being used elsewhere on the internet. Scammers often use the same stolen photos to create fake profi les. You can also search their name, email and phone number to see if you fi nd anything fi shy. For more information: Read BBB’s tip on romance scams (https://www.bbb.org/article/ scams/17012-bbb-tip-romancescams) for more helpful advice. Get information on specifi c dating scams on the BBB Romance Scam page (https://www.bbb. org/all/romance_scams). Also, be on the lookout for a similar scam involving wrong number text messages (https://www. bbb.org/article/scams/26053bbb-scam-alert-wrong-number-text-message-could-be-ascam-bot). If you spot a scam on social media, romance-related or otherwise, report it! By sharing your experience at https://www.bbb. org/ScamTracker, you can help the Better Business Bureau expose scammers’ tactics. Like us on Facebook advocate newspaper Facebook.com/Advocate.news.ma
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