Ex-Lawyer Takes Deceased Dad's ID, Gets $1.8M in Mortgages—and 4+Years
A disbarred New York attorney has reportedly pleaded guilty in the middle of a trial to assuming his deceased father’s identity and misrepresenting himself as a lawyer, in order to obtain almost $1.8 million in real estate financing through fraudulent mortgage transactions.
Rafael Pantoja, 49, is now facing a potential prison sentence of between 4½ and 9 years at his sentencing in March, under a plea deal that is also expected to include restitution, according to the New York Law Journal, in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
Pantoja lost his law license in 1996 after a conviction for theft related to the purchase of a New York City condominium, the legal publication reports. And this is not the only such prior incident in which he has been accused, according to the Journal News, a White Plains newspaper.
Pantoja pleaded guilty yesterday to two felony counts of grand larceny, in exchange for the agreed prison sentence, his lawyer, David Rich, tells the Journal News.
According to the newspaper, Pantoja obtained $1.78 million via three separate real estate transactions.
