Mortgage Company Owner Sentenced for Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme

PHILADELPHIA – In a stunning display of deceit and greed, David Fili, Jr., 48, of Drexel Hill, was sentenced to one day in jail and five years of supervised release, with the first 18 months of supervised release to be served on home confinement, for his role in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme.

Fili, who previously entered a guilty plea to ten counts of wire fraud and two counts of bank fraud, was ordered to forfeit $1,969,312.02, and is jointly and severally liable to pay $9,567,074.56 in restitution.

At the heart of the scheme was Capital Financial Mortgage Corporation (“CFMC”), a Delaware County-based mortgage company co-owned by Fili and George Barnard, 47, of Newtown Square. Between 2005 and March 2013, Fili and Barnard issued refinance mortgage loans to CFMC customers, but instead of using the money to pay off their outstanding first mortgages, they diverted $9,781,977 to themselves from bank accounts belonging to CFMC and several title companies owned by Barnard.

Barnard was previously sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the scheme, while Fili used the diverted funds to buy a vacation home and support his gambling habit. Barnard, on the other hand, used the money to buy multi-million dollar beach homes in Avalon, New Jersey, several yachts, and to pay the salary of a yacht captain.

The scheme left over two dozen CFMC customers stuck with two mortgages on their homes because CFMC had failed to pay off their customers’ existing first mortgages.

“For many years, Fili defrauded honest, hard-working individuals out of their money so that he could gamble it away and relax in his illegally-obtained vacation home, “ said U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain. “The defendant’s vacation ends now. We are thankful that the Court ordered him to pay millions of dollars as a result of his crimes.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. Lowe.