L.I. DA Bags Mortgage Broker For Duping Mother-In-Law Into Signing Land Documents, Leaving Her Facing Foreclosure On Home She Unwittingly Purchased

From the Office of the Nassau County, New York District Attorney:

• Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced [] that a Woodbury man faces up to 15 years in prison after tricking his mother-in-law into signing various real estate documents that allowed him to steal more than $600K from several financial institutions and left her facing civil lawsuits in addition to foreclosure proceedings on a nearly-$1 million home she had no idea she owned.(1)

• John Tuozzo, 44, was arrested [] by DA Investigators and charged with two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, three counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.(2)

For the entire press release, see Woodbury Man Dupes Mother-in-Law, Steals $600K in Real Estate Scam (Tuozzo had mother-in-law sign documents for near-million dollar mortgage and multiple lines of credit).

(1) John Tuozzo and his wife divorced in 2009, and the property, which is owned solely by Tuozzo’s now-ex-mother-in-law, is being foreclosed on, the Nassau County DA press release states. Reportedly, she is also being sued civilly by several financial institutions for the balance of the money owed after a foreclosure sale.

(2) This case was investigated by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Crimes Against Real Estate Unit (CARE). Created in March 2009, CARE handles everything from mortgage fraud and foreclosure rescue scams to identity theft, senior fraud, and the investigation of unlicensed brokers and lenders, according to the DA's press release.