PITTSBURGH — Siblings James Nassida, 48, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Janna Nassida, 45, of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, were convicted today on two counts of Bank Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Bank and Wire Fraud after a federal jury deliberated for just one hour. The swift verdict underscores the overwhelming evidence presented by prosecutors in one of Western Pennsylvania’s largest mortgage fraud cases in recent years.
The trial, presided over by Senior United States District Judge Donetta Ambrose, exposed a systematic fraud operation run through Century III Home Equity, a mortgage broker business owned and operated by James Nassida. Janna Nassida served as both manager and loan officer at the company, which brokered hundreds of millions in loans between 2007 and 2008 using over a dozen different lenders—many of them built on lies.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cindy Chung and Brendan T. Conway, the fraud included inflated property appraisals, falsified settlement statements, and concealed secondary financing. Documents were routinely backdated, cash payments were hidden, and loan-to-value ratios were falsified. Borrowers were misled about fees, interest rates, and the true nature of mortgage products—some of which could negatively amortize, trapping homeowners in escalating debt.
James Nassida personally orchestrated fraud in his own $300,000 vacation home purchase near Seven Springs. He submitted a settlement statement with an inflated sales price, lied about earning $980,000 in 2006—a year he didn’t even file taxes—and forged investment statements claiming $600,000 in assets when he had barely $15,000. These weren’t isolated acts; they were the blueprint of a criminal enterprise.
Under the siblings’ direction, loan officers at Century III routinely submitted false documents to lenders and borrowers. James also accepted undisclosed kickbacks from a settlement company, a violation of federal lending law. The prosecution proved a culture of deception, where fraud wasn’t an exception—it was policy.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 29, 2017. Each defendant faces up to sixty years in prison, a $2,000,000 fine, or both. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines will weigh the severity of the offenses and any prior criminal history in determining the final penalty. For now, the Nassidas’ empire of lies has collapsed under the weight of its own deceit.
Related Federal Cases
- Edinburg Woman Pleads Guilty in $4M Mortgage Fraud Plot · Pennsylvania
- Mangis Sentenced For $70K Wire Fraud Scheme · Pennsylvania
- Pittsburgh’s Moreno Convicted in Mortgage Fraud Plot · Pennsylvania
- Ebensburg Woman Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Scheme · Maryland
- Lisa Gerideau-Williams Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud · Pennsylvania
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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