NY man to plead guilty in fraud case

Area businessman scammed out of money, vehicles

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A New York City man is expected to plead guilty in federal court to defrauding a 69-year-old local businessman out of more than $120,000 and 55 vehicles last year.

Haki Toplica, 25, and four other co-defendants appeared Thursday in federal court in Cleveland for a pretrial hearing on nine charges, including wire fraud.

Toplica is now set to change his not-guilty plea Sept. 10, according to court records. Three other co-defendants who are alleged to have schemed with Toplica or benefited from the scam – Kathryn Lissette De La Torre, Haider Islam and Robert Russo – also appeared in court Thursday and also are set to change their pleas.

Another, Luisa Rivera Goris, is continuing to a Sept. 16 trial date, records show.

Toplica presented himself as a loan broker to the victim, who was seeking a loan to downsize his business.

Over the course of several months, Toplica offered the man several phony loan deals while requiring “fees and up-front costs” for the transaction, authorities said. The loans, which ranged from $475,000 to $20 million, never materialized.

Toplica later told the man he required collateral assets for another loan, and the man turned over the titles to 55 vehicles, including heavy equipment, restored classic vehicles, a Freightliner and a 2009 Ford Mustang, which Toplica drove back to New York.

Toplica was lured back to the area with the promise of payment for another phony deal and was arrested Sept. 26 by Springfield Township police.

He remains in the Mahoning County jail.