Monmouth County, New Jersey, Woman Admits Role in Fraud Scheme

NEWARK, N.J. – A Monmouth County, New Jersey, woman today admitted her role in a scheme to defraud a bank and bank regulators, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Donna Conroy, 57, of Middletown, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court to an information charging her with one count of conspiring to make false entries to deceive a bank and bank regulators, and to influence those regulators, and one count of making false entries.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The three-phase scheme took place from 2009 to 2010. The first phase was to fraudulently infuse $7 million of capital into FSB. In the second phase of the scheme, various conspirators caused FSB to make millions of dollars in loans based on material misrepresentations in order to cover up the fraudulent nature of the capital infusion and end inquiries from FSB’s auditors. The final phase involved lying to the FDIC and FSB, among others, about the fraudulent capital infusion and loans.

The conspiracy count to which Conroy pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the offense or twice the gross loss sustained by any victim. The count of making false entries carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million or twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the offense or twice the gross loss sustained by any victim. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 24, 2017.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FDIC, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patti Tarasca, New York Region; the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher, Newark; and the Office of the Special Inspector General for Trouble Asset Relief Program, under the direction of Special Inspector General Christy Goldsmith Romero, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Andrew Leven of the U.S. Attorney=s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.