Real Estate

Tour This Creepy $8 Million Monmouth County Mansion [Video]

This 21,000-square-foot estate used to be one of Monmouth County's most lavish homes — until its owner was sent to federal prison.

COLTS NECK, NJ — This 21,000-square foot mansion on Cedar Drive used to be one of Colts Neck's most lavish homes — until its owner David Findel was sentenced to three years in federal prison on multiple charges of fraud. Now 104 Cedar Drive is bordered up, abandoned and filled with trash and graffiti. The "Unknown Cameraman" sneaked in and toured the home, and his creepy video has gotten more than 1 million views.

However, the video has only attracted more trespassers to 104 Cedar, and it's infuriating local Colts Neck police, Deputy Mayor Mike Fitzgerald told NBC4 News. The 7-bedroom, 9-bath mansion boasts a man-made lake, an indoor gym, a barber shop and a wine cellar. Once valued at $8 million, the property is for sale (Pssst, Bruce Springsteen and "Real Housewives of New Jersey" twins Teresa Napolitano Aprea and Nicole Napolitano Mauriello live nearby.)

Former Colts Neck resident Findel, who once owned mortgage company Worldwide Financial Resources, pleaded guilty to an $11 million fake loan scam in October 2010, which was uncovered when the market crashed. But the plot only thickens from there.

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Earlier that same year, he also declared personal bankruptcy.

When he filed for Chapter 7 protection, Findel, now 51, claimed he had only $5,500 in cash and no other personal assets of value on hand, according to media reports at the time. However, the feds investigated and discovered that Findel had tried to hide more than $200,000 in luxury goods from Uncle Sam: Eight watches worth $55,350; 21 boxes of fine china and silver valued at $13,965; 511 bottles of wine valued at $44,540; 11 paintings valued at $7,750, and $6,240 worth of jewelry, not to mention a $19,000 Jeep Wrangler he loaned to a friend, according to the Two River Times. He pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud on Dec. 12, 2012.

Find out what's happening in Marlboro-Coltsneckfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Findel was ordered to spend three years in prison for the original mortgage fraud, and then two years served concurrently for the fraud related to his bankruptcy filing, according to the Two River Times. Where is David Findel now? He was released last March from prison. And once he got out, he was ordered to three years of supervised release, plus 480 hours of community service.

104 Cedar Drive is listed for sale. Here's what the home looked like in its original splendor.

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