Wayne Green of Lynbrook charged in $2M homeowner fraud scheme in Westchester, DA says

A Lynbrook man is among six people and a corporation charged in a $2 million fraud scheme that the Westchester District Attorney’s Office said “targeted distressed homeowners” in New Rochelle and Yonkers by fraudulently obtaining loans — including $500,000 in COVID-19 relief. 

Westchester District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah said in a statement Wednesday that the defendants not only targeted three residential properties facing bankruptcy and foreclosure, but led two of the homeowners to believe they were receiving mortgage assistance — and sign over deeds to their homes.

The third property was acquired in a short sale, Rocah said.

As part of the scheme, officials said, the defendants forged financial statements and filed false tax documents to obtain $1.5 million in short-term “fix and flip” loans, only to default on the mortgages. They also secured a $500,000 COVID-19 relief small business loan, Rocah said — all, as the homeowners who were expecting a refinanced mortgage faced eviction.

The district attorney’s office said Wayne Green, 48, of Lynbrook, worked with licensed real estate broker Marcia Campbell, 61, of New Rochelle, “to acquire financially distressed properties through which loans could be fraudulently procured” and then assisted with “submitting forged and false documents” to the Small Business Administration. Officials said Green committed tax fraud with “the intent to evade” taxes due for a company called SAJ Marketing Consultants in 2020 and 2021.

Officials said the Economic Crimes Bureau and criminal investigators of the Westchester District Attorney’s Office initiated the investigation more than two years ago after a victim filed a complaint with the district attorney’s office. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance assisted in the investigation, officials said.

Green was arrested and arraigned on June 21, charged in the indictment with fourth-degree conspiracy, first-degree grand larceny, second-degree grand larceny, two counts of first-degree falsifying business records, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and two counts of fourth-degree criminal tax fraud.

Court records show he pleaded not guilty at arraignment before Judge George Fufidio in Westchester County Court and was released on his own recognizance.

Records show conferences in the case are scheduled for July 13. The attorney of record for Green could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.

 Also arrested and charged in connection with the case along with Green were licensed real estate broker Fred Campbell, 64, of New Rochelle, who is married to Marcia Campbell, who was also arrested and charged; attorney Anthony Chilliest, 53, of Manhattan; Frank Palmer, 66, of the Bronx; and, Gerald Smith, 48, of Elmsford. The Campal Corp. also was charged, officials alleging, among the charges, that it functioned as a “straw purchaser” in the scheme and “served to obfuscate” the identities of Marcia Campbell, Chilliest and other defendants as the true purchasers and applicants in the fraudulent transactions.

“Deed theft schemes exploit the most vulnerable and can have lasting housing and financial impacts to families,” Rocah said in a statement about the case. “My office will seek to hold the defendants accountable for allegedly stealing titles to victims’ homes while pretending to help them."

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”