Victim Location 15227
Total money lost $1,500
Type of a scam Advance Fee Loan
OWNER OF STARBANCO
April 28, 2005
The more than 100 people stung in a Pennsylvania fraud scheme run by a mortgage broker and home improvement contractor are getting some satisfaction.
Attorney General Tom Corbett has announced that broker Mark Campisi is shelling out $50,000 in restitution for his part in a scam that authorities said led to a 400 percent increase in foreclosures in Butler County, according to a dispatch from the Oil City Derrick newspaper.
In addition to a mortgage brokerage Campisi controlled other lending and finance companies that were also accused of wrongdoing.
The state sued Campisi November of 2001 for fraud after the paper exposed questionable lending practices that led to a number of foreclosures. The money he paid was part of a consent decree with the attorney general’s office. Campisi admitted no wrongdoing.
The state has also placed restrictions on the other companies Campisi operated, including Bankers Financial Services, Atlantic Credit Inc. and USA Financial Services.
Iron City Builders, a home improvement company from Pittsburgh, helped land customers for Campisi. It was banned from conducting business in the state under a deal cut with regulators last year.
Appraisers Reid Baker of Allison Park and Richard Bauer of Titusville are still being investigated, according to the paper.