New Castle man pleads guilty in conspiracy case

Sentencing is set for Oct. 28 in federal court.

staff report

PITTSBURGH — A New Castle, Pa., man has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of bank- and mail-fraud conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy.

Robert Ratkovich, 40, of Norwood Avenue, has pleaded guilty to two counts before Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond.

He faces up to 50 years in prison, a fine of up to $1.5 million, or both. He’s scheduled for sentencing Oct. 28.

In connection with the guilty plea, an assistant U.S. attorney told the court that Ratkovich participated in a conspiracy to defraud First Commonwealth Bank and Affordable Housing of Lawrence County.

The board of directors of Affordable Housing of Lawrence County hired Ratkovich as a consultant to advise the board about which properties Affordable Housing should buy and at what price, the government said.

He advised the board to buy seven properties that were all owned or associated with a particular individual. The sales prices had been set by Ratkovich’s co-conspirator, who was receiving kickbacks from some of the sellers who were having their properties sold to Affordable Housing, according to the government.

The nonprofit housing organization had insufficient funds to buy the properties, so it received a loan from First Commonwealth Bank to finance the purchase.

Ratkovich and others made misrepresentations to the bank regarding the financial status of the housing organization, and another co-conspirator submitted fraudulent appraisals of the properties to the bank, overstating the properties’ values, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Ratkovich also participated in a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of the fraud by causing the deposit of some of the proceeds of the fraud into an account of a business that regularly received cash payments to conceal the source of the funds, the office said.