Peter Iovino
Almost every day there are news reports of American property managers
and directors being charged or convicted of criminal fraud. I will post
just the most interesting cases.
Former Bedford
condo manager gets 5 years for swiping funds to gamble
Man admits he
swiped funds for gas, gambling
The Journal News
Jonathan Bandler
Dec. 23, 2013
The former property manager of a Bedford apartment complex was
sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison for taking funds from
the condo association that he used for food, gas and gambling expenses
in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Peter Iovino, 57, formerly of Shrub Oak, obtained an unauthorized
$150,000 bank loan and also improperly withdrew nearly $140,000 using a
Bedford Terrace Condo Association debit card.
U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti gave Iovino until Feb. 7 to begin
serving his prison term.
The theft was discovered in September 2011 after the condo board’s
treasurer got a call from the bank regarding a missed payment on the
loan. She and other board members claimed to be unaware of the loan and
that Iovino had gotten them to sign loan documents that they thought
were for something else. They also reviewed bank statements and learned
that Iovino had been submitting doctored statements to hide what he had
withdrawn.
Iovino pleaded guilty in January to wire and bank fraud charges. But
his insistence that the board had authorized the loan and intended for
him to get half of the money forced a hearing last month as to whether
the board was at all complicit in his actions.
The board president testified that Iovino had recommended a loan to
cover capital improvements but that all the board had authorized him to
do was look into it and report back to them. Prosecutors also called as
a witness a former employee of Iovino’s who testified that she
notarized blank documents at his request and that he gave her $100 and
two bottles of wine for her effort.
The sentencing guidelines agreed upon when Iovino pleaded guilty called
for a prison term of 31⁄3 to 51⁄3 years. But after last month’s
hearing, prosecutors urged Briccetti to consider a range between 7¼ to
9 years because Iovino had refused to accept responsibility despite his
guilty plea.
Defense lawyer Domenick Porco sought a prison term of between two and
three years, based on what prosecutors were initially seeking during
plea negotiations last year.
top contents
chapter previous next