Allentown title agent Louis Belletieri sentenced to several years in federal prison for $10 million fraud scheme

The owner of an Allentown title insurance company will serve time in federal prison for a fraud scheme that totaled nearly $10 million.

Louis Belletieri, 44, of Allentown, was sentenced Wednesday to 4½ years in prison for defrauding a title insurance underwriter and clients, and submitting a fraudulent application to the Small Business Administration, according to federal court records. He pleaded guilty in June to two counts of wire fraud in the case.

Belletieri was the proprietor of the now-defunct Legacy Title, which provided title and real estate closing services. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he used money that was placed in escrow as part of real estate transactions for personal reasons, including gambling.

Between March 2020 and September 2023, Belletieri transferred about $6.4 million from the escrow account to his personal account, and another $2.5 million from the account to his business operating account, federal authorities said. Many of the transfers were not for legitimate business purposes.

He took steps to conceal the fraud, including submitting a fraudulent application to the SBA to get money via the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program. He agreed to use the money from the loan as working capital to alleviate economic injury related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he instead used the $825,000 he received from it for personal reasons.

His attorney, Joshua Karoly, wrote in court filings that Belletieri has a gambling addiction, and the theft began as a way to cover losses from gambling until he could legitimately earn money from his title company to replenish it. In his mind, Belletieri “temporarily” took the money with the intention of replacing it, according to Karoly.

“Louis Belletieri came before the court yesterday demonstrating the same contriteness and candor that first caused him to self-report his own misuse of client funds. Louis accepted total responsibility then, and did so again,” Karoly said Thursday. “He is committed to making whole any person who his insurance has not fully reimbursed for their loss, and he is similarly resolute in his unwillingness to allow his life to be defined by this singular moment.”

Belletieri, who has been free on bail since he was charged, must report to prison next month.

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