BOSTON – A former Massachusetts attorney and his wife were found guilty in federal court in Boston in connection with various mortgage fraud schemes.
Barry Wayne Plunkett, Jr., 62, and Nancy Plunkett, 57, of Hyannis Port were sentenced on August 25, 2022 by U.S. Superior District Judge Mark L. Wolfe. Barry Plunkett was sentenced to 78 months in prison and her five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to return $3,236,466 and forfeit his $3,221,403. Nancy Plunkett was sentenced to one year in prison and her one day, five years of release under her supervision. She was also ordered to return her $3,054,759 and forfeit $3,221,403 in solidarity with Barry Plunkett. On March 4, 2022, Barry Plunkett pleaded guilty to five counts of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of tax evasion. On the same day, Nancy Plunkett pleaded guilty to five bank fraud charges.
Prior to being disqualified in October 2017, Barry Plunkett owned and operated Plunkett Law Firm and his wife, Nancy Plunkett, was an office assistant and paralegal.
Defendant was involved in several bank fraud schemes. In one plan, from September 2012 to July 2016, Plunkett Law Firm processed new mortgage closings for mortgage refinancing for 6 mortgage lenders and 14 homeowners. The Plunkets informed the mortgage lender that the existing mortgage had been paid off from the proceeds of the new loan, but in reality they had deliberately repaid the previous lien. Instead, they diverted more than $1 million in repayment funds for their own purposes.
In other bank fraud schemes from April 2015 to March 2018, the Plunketts fraudulently used various names, entities, and false documents to obtain $412,000 and $470,000 at their Hyannisport home. Got 3 consecutive $1.2 million mortgages. The defendant pledged the Hyannis Port property held by her family trust, where Barry Plunkett was one of her three beneficiaries. Both defendants allege false ownership reports and other records to the lender that falsely show that the property does not exist, have no existing mortgage liens, and have forged documents in someone else’s name. Engaged in providing false documents. Defendant also made false representations to lenders that Nancy Plunkett was a single woman living in Wellesley who had purchased the property under her maiden name as a business investment. The property was their residence.
U.S. Attorney Rachel S. Rollins. Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent for the Boston Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And Jolene D. Simpson, a special agent in charge of criminal investigations for the Internal Revenue Service in Boston, announced today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wilde and Mackenzie Queenin of Rollins’ Securities, Financial and Cyber Fraud Division and Carol Head, Chief of Rollins’ Asset Recovery Division, prosecuted the case.