Former TopDot Mortgage manager pleads guilty to scam

By Palm Beach Business.com

WEST PALM BEACH — The last defendant in the TopDot Mortgage scam has pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud charges, in federal district court in West Palm Beach.

Peter Hartofillis, formerly a manager at TopDot Mortgage in Boca Raton, was part of a scam that falsified documents to make prospective borrowers look more affluent than they really were and submitted them to numerous lenders. The scam managed to obtain $5 million in mortgages, according to federal prosecutors.

Among the other defendants: Robert Hofler, an executive at First Southern Bank, who used his position to produce documents showing borrowers had much fatter bank accounts then they really had; Joseph Miller, a Palm Beach Gardens lawyer who acted as closing and title agent on a number of the loans; Jason Vitulano, also a manager at TopDot. And; Steve Vento, a home buyer.

Hartofillis, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and mail fraud, is to be sentenced August 16.