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Two former employees of a mortgage lending company have been charged in connection with their roles in a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme.

According to charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, Christopher J. Gallo of Old Tappan, New Jersey, and Mehmet A. Elmas, a U.S. citizen who resides in Turkey, worked for a privately-owned residential mortgage lending business where Gallo was a senior loan officer and Elmas was a loan officer and Gallo’s assistant. From 2018 through October 2023, Gallo and Elmas reportedly engaged in a scheme to falsify loan origination documents sent to mortgage lenders in New Jersey and elsewhere, including their former employer, in order to fraudulently obtain mortgage loans.

Gallo and Elmas are accused of misleading lenders about the intended use of properties to fraudulently secure lower mortgage interest rates – they falsely stated the listed borrowers were the primary residents of certain proprieties when they intended to use the properties as rental or investment properties. The duo is also accused of falsifying property records, including building safety and financial information of prospective borrowers to facilitate mortgage loan approval.

Between 2018 through October 2023, Gallo originated more than $1.4 billion in loans. The men are charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.

The men appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa in Newark federal court and were each released $200,000 unsecured bond.