Chris Gallo enters guilty plea in federal mortgage fraud case

Christopher Gallo, once one of the nation’s top mortgage loan officers, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a federal court in New Jersey, according to court filings reviewed by HousingWire. Gallo entered the guilty plea to count one of the indictment — conspiracy to commit bank fraud — on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, withdrawing an earlier plea of not guilty. He remains free on bail and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3. His former assistant, Mehmet A. Elmas, has a plea hearing set for Aug. 20. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) first charged Gallo and Elmas in April 2024. The DOJ alleged that from 2018 through late 2023, they falsified loan documents to deceive mortgage lenders. They first worked at NJ Lenders Corp. and in late 2023 joined CrossCountry Mortgage. A federal grand jury later indicted them on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, eight counts of bank fraud, eight counts of making false statements to a financial institution and one count of aggravated identity theft. Attorneys for Gallo and the DOJ haven’t responded to HousingWire’s requests for comments. Prosecutors allege the pair routinely mis...