Prosecutor: Couple Swindles Senior Citizen of $300,000 In Savings, Home Loans, Sales

A Hillsborough married couple has been indicted for scamming a local senior citizen for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The couple allegedly spent the stolen funds on personal expenses, including cars and mink coats, while the victim lost her home to foreclosure as a result of the botched investment deal.

Wilhelmina Gangi and Thomas Gangi, Jr. of Hillsborough were indicted by a Somerset County grand jury on multiple charges of theft and misapplication of entrusted property, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano stated.

An investigation revealed that the victim, a senior citizen from Hillsborough, used her savings in the approximate amount of $135,000 to purchase a residential property in Matawan, New Jersey in June 2010 – a property that the Gangi’s had agreed to renovate and sell on behalf of the victim.

In June of 2011, the victim also took out a $95,000 reverse mortgage on a retirement home in Florida to finance the repairs on the Matawan property. The defendants’ responsibility was to renovate the home and sell it.

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The agreement called for the victim to receive her investment and a share of the profits after the house was sold, Soriano stated. The investigation also revealed that defendants used the proceeds from the reverse mortgage for their personal expenses, which included restaurant bills, beauty salons, clothing stores, pet salons, and more.

According to the Somerset County Prosecutor:

• After spending $95,000, the victim and the defendant, Wilhelmina Gangi, jointly applied for a $60,000 home equity loan in January 2012.

• After depleting the $60,000 loan, the defendants later took out two home equity loans in 2012 for $12,000 and $95,700 respectively. They were also secured by the property to finance the repairs, but the Gangis’ used those funds for personal expenses as well.

• A $95,700 loan at 16% interest was used to pay off the first two home equity loans, leaving a balance of approximately $14,000, which was also depleted by the defendants.

• The victim transferred her interest in the Matawan home to W. Gangi on March 5, 2012, at the couples’ urging to protect the property from victim’s creditors.

The victim confided in the Gangis that she had begun to experience financial difficulties due to the partnership. The deed was then transferred solely to Wilhelmina Gangi.

The couple repeatedly assured the victim that she would receive her share of the money, despite having already sold the house in April 2013 for approximately $343,000 without telling the victim, Soriano stated.

After the home equity loans and fees were paid, the defendants received a balance of $156,608. The couple spent the balance on a car and a mink jacket. The victim never saw a penny.

Meanwhile, the victim continued to cope with financial hardships as a result of the botched partnership. Her home in Hillsborough was foreclosed and sold in a Sheriff’s sale in August of 2013. As a result, she was forced to move into a small apartment.

The victim has not been reimbursed for the $135,000 in savings used to purchase the Matawan property or the $95,000 in reverse mortgage proceeds.

Wilhelmina Gangi and Thomas Gangi, Jr. were charged with Theft By Deception, Second Degree, Theft By Failure To Make Required Disposition Of Property Received, Second Degree, and Misapplication Of Entrusted Property, Second Degree.

The indictment is the result of a joint investigation conducted by detectives from the Hillsborough Township Police Department and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Unit.

The defendants will be issued Court dates to appear in order to answer the charges in the indictment, Prosecutor Soriano stated.

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