N.J. councilman convicted of orchestrating phony short sale of his home

A federal jury has convicted a New Jersey township councilman and his co-conspirator in a short sale mortgage fraud scheme.

Nathaniel Anderson, 59, a member of the Willingboro Township Council, and his associate, Chrisone D. Anderson, 58, of Sicklerville, were convicted of the federal crimes of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and two counts of making a false statement on a mortgage application, U.S. Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey said in a statement on Wednesday night.

Following a two-week long trial, the jury deliberated for about two-and-a-half hours before returning the verdicts on Tuesday. The two were indicted by a federal jury in 2024 after an investigation into the short sale of the councilman’s home.

On Oct. 27, 2015, the Superior Court of New Jersey foreclosed on Anderson’s property on behalf of a government-sponsored mortgage lender for $350,000. On that same day, the councilman executed a real estate sales contract with Chrisone D. Anderson as the buyer, federal authorities said.

Chrisone D. Anderson took out a $162,011 mortgage to purchase the property and Nathaniel continued to live there after the sale, according to federal prosecutors.

False statements made on the mortgage application included the fact that Nathaniel would no longer reside at the home, that Chrisone would use the home as her primary residence and that the two did not have a previous business relationship, officials said.

The transaction caused the mortgage lender to suffer a loss of more than $200,000, authorities said.

A spokesperson for the town of Willingboro could not immediately be reached on Wednesday night. As of 8:30 p.m., Anderson was still listed as a councilman on the township website.

Both Andersons will be sentenced on June 1.