2 Bucks Co. men convicted in scheme to steal home from family of dead man

On Monday, United States Attorney Jacqueline Romero announced that two Bucks County men had been convicted for their roles in multiple fraud schemes linked to stealing a dead man's home from his family and defrauding those they owed money to.

According to Romero, on Friday, a federal jury convicted Alan Kane, 59, of Jamison, on charges of bankruptcy fraud and making false statements to the FBI. Derrell Johnson, 42, of Bensalem, Romero said, was convicted on charges of making false statements to the FBI.

The charges, stem from a case when, in January, Kane and Johnson were charged -- along with codefendant Jonathan Barger, 55, of Huntingdon Valley -- in an indictment that laid out three separate fraud schemes: an attempt to steal a home from the family of a dead man, a scheme to defraud the City of Philadelphia of property taxes on that home and a scheme to defraud Barger's creditors through a fraudulent bankruptcy filing.

Barger was implicated in all three schemes and pleaded guilty in June to all counts with which he was charged.

Kane, an attorney, has been suspended from practicing law in Pennsylvania since April of last year.

In a statement on these schemes, Romero's office detailed how these men came to be charged. Her office said that, initially Kane represented a man, Joseph Ruggiero, who died in 2020, in court after Ruggiero had stolen a home from a family of a man who died -- this individual, however, was not identified by Romero's office.

As a representative of Ruggiero, Romero's office said, Kane make false statements claiming Ruggiero had a good title to the stolen property despite knowing that the deeds transferring the property away from the family were fraudulent.

Kane also filed a false counterclaim against the family, claiming Barger’s company was entitled to more than $133,000 for work purportedly done to improve the house after it had been stolen, Romero's office said.

"After claiming in the state court suit that Ruggiero had good title to the house, Kane represented Ruggiero before the Social Security Administration and represented that Ruggiero did not own the house because the deeds were fraudulent," Romero's office said in a statement. "This was done to ensure Ruggiero would still receive SSI benefits."

Kane next filed a bankruptcy for Ruggiero, in which they claimed that Ruggiero had valid title to the house in order to stay the family’s state court suit and prevent them from winning back the house, said Romero's office.

Kane then filed a false claim against Ruggiero in the bankruptcy, on behalf of Barger’s company, in an effort to steal some of the equity in the house for Barger in the event that Ruggiero lost the house to rightful owners of the home, according to Romero's office.

Johnson had helped with the preparation and filing of two fraudulent deeds used to steal the house, and also helped with the filing of a false claim with the City of Philadelphia to avoid a large tax bill that was due on the house, Romero's office said in a statement.

When Johnson was interviewed by the FBI, he lied, claiming that he didn’t recognize the fraudulent deeds and had nothing to do with the theft of the house, Romero's office said adding that he claimed the checks he received for his role in these schemes were really meant to provide payment to another person.

“The fraud schemes in which the defendants were involved differed in their details,” said Romero in the statement. “But they shared a common goal: scheming, cheating, and lying for illicit financial gain — be it at the expense of a family, a city, or a creditor. We will continue to hold accountable those involved in misappropriating money like this or caught lying to the FBI.”

Kane and Johnson are scheduled to be sentenced on January 28, 2025.

Kane faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $1 million fine, and a $400 special assessment fee, and Johnson faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $500,000 fine, and $200 special assessment fee, said Romero's office.