Two New Jersey men have admitted to orchestrating a scheme to defraud a mortgage lender by fabricating the sale of a property and submitting forged documents to obtain a $4.5 million loan. One of the men also pleaded guilty to a separate $1.8 million COVID-era loan fraud.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey, Mendel Deutsch, 39, of Toms River, pleaded guilty to bank and wire fraud conspiracy and an additional count of wire fraud. Joshua Feldberger, 43, of Howell, pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy.
Federal prosecutors said Deutsch and Feldberger worked with Arthur Spitzer to create the illusion that Spitzer owned three properties in Brooklyn, New York. Deutsch then applied for and received a $4.5 million mortgage loan for the fake purchase. Feldberger, acting as the owner of the settlement company handling the transaction, helped move the fraudulent deal forward.
The pair forged letters claiming Deutsch had deposited substantial escrow funds toward the purchase, even though he provided no money at all. They also produced additional fake documents stating they had transferred control of the properties to Spitzer.
Prosecutors say the men falsely told the mortgage lender that the settlement company received more than $2 million from Deutsch at closing, prompting the lender to approve and fund the multimillion-dollar loan. The loan proceeds were then used to fund Deutsch’s down payment—the same down payment he had claimed to make beforehand.
Charges against Spitzer, of Toms River, remain pending. He faces multiple counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, lying to a bank and money laundering.
Feldberger is scheduled to be sentenced on February 23, 2026, and Deutsch on March 16, 2026.
In a separate case, prosecutors said Deutsch also submitted fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications in 2020 and 2021, inflating employee numbers and business revenues to obtain about $1.8 million in government-backed pandemic loans intended to help struggling small businesses.
