Wall Family Indicted in Bi-County Fraud Scheme

A Wall Township developer and several of his family members have been indicted in connection with a $2 million mortgage fraud scheme, according to court documents.

Indicted by an Ocean County Grand Jury were:

• Christopher “Chris” Colatrella, 40, of Martin Road, the owner of CMC holdings LLC;
• John T. Colatrella, 49, his brother, of Martin Road, the owner of Colatrella Properties;
• Alexis Colatrella, 27, daughter of John T. Colatrella, of Martin Road, a former employee of Mortgage Line Financial Services;  
• Vincent Veritas, 24, John Colatrella’s step-son, of Martin Road;
• Delores Cittadino, 79, John Colatrella’s mother-in-law, of Long Branch; and
• Martin Damato, 27, of Colonia, a former Mortgage Line Financial employee.

The group, except for Carr, was arrested in August in an early morning raid on the family's Martin Road house in August by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the Wall Township Police Department and other agencies. The group bilked more than $2 million through a real estate deal flipping scheme, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office has said.

The charges stem from crimes that took place between May 25, 2007 and July 11, 2008 in Lakewood, Lakehurst, Toms River, Howell, Matawan and Wall, according to the indictment.

Christopher Colatrella was indicted on two counts of first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity, two counts of first-degree conspiracy to commit financial facilitation of criminal activity, and one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit theft by deception.

Christopher Colatrella directed property transactions of more than $500,000 and engaged others his crimes, the indictment says.

Alexis Colatrella was indicted on two counts of first-degree financial facilitation, two counts of first-degree conspiracy to commit financial facilitation, three counts of theft by deception, and one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit theft by deception. 

Alexis Colatrella falsified mortgage applications of more than $75,000 to Lehman Brothers Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank and Washington Mutual Bank, the indictment says.

John Colatrella was charged on two counts of first-degree conspiracy to commit financial facilitation of criminal activity and one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit theft by deception, according to the indictment.

D'Amato was indicted on one count of theft by deception for falsifying a mortgage application to Bank of America, and conspiracy to commit theft by deception, according to the indictment.

Carr was indicted on a count of theft by deception for falsifying a mortgage application to American Partners Bank, and conspiracy to commit theft by deception, the indictment says.

Cittadino and Veritas each were indicted on a single count of conspiracy to commit theft by deception, according to the indictment.

Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said the arrests were the result of a yearlong investigation into the group's activities.

Christopher Colatrella, John Colatrella and Alexis Colatrella on Aug. 23 each were released from Ocean County Jail, Toms River, on $500,000 bail. The trio was required to surrender their passports.

D'Amato, also on Aug. 23, was released on $100,000 bail, with the same condition.