Bail set at $100,000 for ex-Schenectady builder charged with big mortgage scam

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

The former Schenectady builder arrested last week on allegations he schemed to defraud lenders of $640,000 was ordered held this morning on $100,000 bail.

Angelo Rossi, 47, former chairman and owner of Rossi Construction, appeared in Schenectady County Court this morning asking for bail in his case. He had been held on $300,000 bond since his extradition last week from the state of Florida.

In court this morning, Judge Richard Giardino set bail at the $100,000. If Rossi gets out, he also ordered Rossi to stay in New York State and report to the probation department once a week.

Asked if he understood those conditions, Rossi replied that he did, “I understand completely,” he said.

Giardino also briefly discussed having an electronic-location monitor for Rossi, but that option is apparently not offered in Schenectady County. Instead, he ordered that any missed meetings with probation be reported to the court immediately.

Several apparent members of Rossi’s family were present for the proceedings. The case is being prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s office.

In all, Rossi faces 11 felony counts, accused of defrauding a mortgage company and two private lenders.

He faces four counts of second-degree grand larceny, six counts of second-degree forgery, and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud.

The charges stem from allegations that Rossi arranged two separate “straw purchases” of two lots on Hardin Road in the town of Duanesburg. He is accused of forging borrowers’ signatures on six loan requests in order to secure funds from Countrywide Home Loans and two private lenders.

Prior to his arrest, Rossi had been under investigation for approximately six months. The Attorney General’s Office would not comment on whether other people are being investigated in the alleged scheme.

In 2006, Rossi was arrested by state police after he was accused of billing a client for materials that weren’t used and labor that was never performed.

Anyone who may have been a victim of Rossi should contact Investigator Mark Spencer at the state Attorney General’s Office at (518) 474-8686.