A Saratoga Springs couple was arraigned in Saratoga County Court Thursday, Sept. 3, for allegedly running a mortgage fraud scheme that netted them $2.3 million.
Nikole Sutliff (also known as Nikole Riely), 32 and Stephen Sutliff, 37, both of Kirby Drive, Saratoga Springs, were both indicted on nine counts of grand larceny in the second degree and one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree. Both crimes are felonies.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares was appointed special prosecutor to the case at the request of Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy.
Soares’s office also filed a civil complaint to recover the proceeds allegedly gained from the fraud schemes.
The indictment alleges that between December 2006 and March 2007 the couple fraudulently obtained multiple mortgages for the following addresses in Saratoga County: 135 Washington St., 46 Thoroughbred Dr., 162 Grand Ave., 178 Grand Ave., 208 Grand Ave. and 54 Kirby St.
Using the proceeds of the schemes, the couple allegedly purchased the following: a 2007 BMW 35i sedan, a 2007 BMW X3, a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado, a tavern named Dream Street, located at 49 South Glens Falls and a nightclub named `Saratoga Winners` located at 1375 and 1391 Loudon Road in Latham.
Saratoga Winners was consumed by fire on April 30 of this year, and the man the Sutliffs sold it to was subsequently charged with arson. Police allege that Akiva Abraham of Rexford obtained an insurance policy on the nightclub using a fraudulent mortgage loan.
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