Former Englewood Cliffs Banker Admits Loan Scam

An Englewood Cliffs man and former bank executive admitted Thursday to conspiring to commit bank fraud in a scheme to obtain a $1.5 million residential real estate loan for a client, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. 

James Cockinos, 58, the former chief executive officer of Edgewater-based Mariner's Bank, pleaded guilty in Trenton federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. 

According to federal prosecutors, Cockinos was the president and owner of Federated Mortgage Company of America and a member of the Mariner's Bank board when in 2007 he acted as the mortgage broker on a residential loan from Washington Mutual Bank. The loan used to purchase a $1.9 home in Englewood Cliffs, prosecutor's said. 

Cockinos misrepresented the unnamed client's employment, income and assets on the loan, court papers show. He also directed a Mariner’s Bank employee to falsely verify that the client had $350,000 in an account. 

The client defaulted on the loan and the home went into foreclosure, according to prosecutors. Washington Mutual Bank, later acquired by JPMorgan Chase, was hit with more than $500,000 in losses. 

Cockinos served as CEO of Mariner's bank before being replaced in 2009. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 23 and could face a maximum of 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines. 

Authorities have not identified the client, but northjersey.com reported it was Debra Martin, the wife of late Englewood Cliffs auto-dealer Timothy F. Martin, who committed suicide in 2011. 

Martin was known as a car dealer to the stars, reportedly selling pricey rides to Jay-Z and Beyonce. 

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