Press Release
Albany Woman Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Bobbi A. Constantine, formerly known as Robert Bove, age 48, of Albany, pled guilty today to wire fraud in connection with a scheme to obtain mortgages and car loans under the false pretense of being a beneficiary of a $12 million trust.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Acting Inspector in Charge Raymond Moss, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Boston Division.
As part of her guilty plea, Constantine admitted that, from October 2014 through July 2016, when she was known as Robert Bove, she obtained mortgages and automobile lease financing from lenders under the false pretense that she was the beneficiary of a trust containing more than $12 million of the assets of a fictitious, deceased aunt.
Constantine used fictitious trust documents, which bore a forged notary seal, to dupe an attorney into generating a letter stating that that she was the beneficiary of a trust generating annual income of more than $50,000. Constantine also impersonated a fictitious administrative trustee for the trust. On the basis of the fraudulent trust documents and the attorney’s letter, Constantine obtained lease financing for a new Toyota RAV4 and a new Jeep Renegade, and obtained mortgages for her purchase of a $200,000 home in Albany and a $131,000 condominium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The plea follows Constantine’s August 21, 2017 federal sentencing for making false statements in connection with her May 2016 application for employment with the United States Postal Service. Constantine, who has more than 20 prior convictions including convictions for fraud, falsely stated in her employment application that she had never been convicted of a crime.
Constantine has been in federal custody since September 13, 2016. She received a sentence of time served on the false statements conviction.
United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino is scheduled to sentence Constantine on December 22, 2017 on the fraud conviction. Constantine faces up to 30 years in prison, a maximum $1 million fine, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 5 years. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
The plea agreement requires that Constantine consent to forfeiture in the amount of $43,640.72, and pay restitution in the amount of $18,739 to the Social Security Administration and $24,901.72 to the seller of the Myrtle Beach condominium.
This case was investigated by the USPIS, the New York State Police, the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, and the Town of Bethlehem Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Coffman.
Updated November 22, 2017
Topic
Financial Fraud
Component