Jeffrey Poth, Bank Fraud, Pennsylvania 2017

SCRANTON, PA – Three men with ties to Luzerne County business Tammac Holdings Corp. are facing federal fraud charges, accused of a decade-long scheme to deceive investors and banks. Jeffrey Poth, 68, of Drums; James Mahon IV, 64, of Shavertown; and Joel Gillick, 56, of Scranton, allegedly falsified loan portfolio data to avoid crippling financial penalties.

According to a federal indictment and criminal information unsealed today, Poth, the former President of Tammac; Mahon, the Vice President; and Gillick, who served as the company’s attorney and Compliance Officer, systematically hid the true delinquency rates and repossession losses in loan portfolios sold and serviced by Tammac between 2008 and September 2021. The scheme was simple, if brazen: making fake payments on the loans using Tammac’s own funds.

Prosecutors allege this wasn’t a momentary lapse in judgment. The trio actively concealed these “payments” within Tammac’s accounting records, deliberately shielding the practice from both investors and external auditors. The motive? To dodge “recourse obligations” under servicing agreements – financial penalties that would have seriously hurt Tammac’s bottom line. It was a calculated risk, and now it’s backfired.

The fraud deepened between 2017 and 2021 when the conspirators allegedly fed false financial information to an investment firm during a due diligence review. This deception led to the investment firm purchasing Tammac, and subsequently, purchasing loan portfolios from Tammac. Even after the acquisition, the flow of false information continued, further cementing the scheme.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phillip J. Caraballo and Carlo D. Marchioli spearheading the prosecution. If convicted of the most serious offenses, Poth, Mahon, and Gillick each face a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment, followed by a term of supervised release, and a hefty fine. The judge will determine the final sentence based on federal sentencing guidelines.

It’s crucial to remember that these are merely allegations at this stage. Mahon and Gillick are charged with conspiring to commit bank, wire, and mail fraud, and with several counts of bank fraud and wire fraud. Poth is charged with conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud. All three men are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this case as it unfolds.

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