Englewood Cliffs Man Sentenced in Loan Scam

An Englewood Cliffs man who once led an Edgewater-based bank was sentenced Tuesday in Trenton federal court to a year in prison and ordered to pay more than $500,000 in restitution for conspiring to commit bank fraud to secure a real estate loan for a client.

James Cockinos, 58, pleaded guilty in April to a scheme to defraud Washington Mutual Bank by providing false information on an application for the $1.48 million loan for a $1.9 million home in Englewood Cliffs, according to court documents. Cockinos falsified his client’s employment, income and assets.

Cockinos was the owner and president of Federated Mortgage Company of America and a board member at Mariner’s Bank when the application was filed, according to prosecutors.

Cockinos used his post at Mariner’s Bank to have a bank employee falsely verify funds his client’s account, prosecutors said. Cockinos later became chief executive officer of the bank, but left the post in 2010.

The loan was ultimately approved, but the borrower later defaulted on the mortgage. JP Morgan, which took over Washington Mutual, foreclosed on the home in March 2012 leaving the firm with about a $500,000 loss, prosecutors said.