An area fraudster has pled guilty to scheming to obtain a loan of nearly a half-million dollars by faking his death.
Nick Camaj, also known as Nikolin or Nika Camaj, pled guilty to wire fraud on March 23 in U.S. District Court, White Plains, for having his victim transfer money by wire to a bank account.
He also consented to forfeiting $457,050 in “proceeds traceable to the commission of the offense.”
Camaj was arrested and arraigned last October and initially pled not guilty.
He devised a scheme from mid-2016 to early 2022 to induce the victim to loan him more than $450,000, according to the indictment, by claiming he was being treated in European hospitals and “making it appear that he died.”
The indictment and other court records are otherwise vague about the crime or where he lives.
But when he was released on a $500,000 personal recognizance bond in October, family members from Armonk pledged $200,000 as security for the bond.
The court docket also indicates that Camaj might be a citizen of Italy or Montenegro, in that he declined at his arraignment to have the consulates of those countries notified of his case.
Camaj admitted that the proceeds of his crime “cannot be located upon exercise of due diligence,” according to the forfeiture order, meaning that it has been sold or transferred to a third party, commingled with other property, diminished in value or placed beyond the court”™s jurisdiction.
In consenting to forfeiture, the government can go after other property of his that is not directly linked to the crime, up to $457,050.
Camaj is scheduled for sentencing on June 28.
Assistant prosecutor Margery B. Feinzig is handling the prosecution. Greenburgh attorney Peter Goodrich represents Camaj.
