Attorney, notary public accused of swindling Mercer County man out of home

An attorney and a notary public in Hermitage are both accused of swindling a Springfield Township man out of his home.

According to a criminal complaint, the victim lived at a home on the 600 Block of Old Mercer Road.

Police say around Christmas of 2020, the man was in financial troubles and his home was in foreclosure owing just over $18,000 plus other fees he had incurred. 

According to the complaint, the man did not know where to go, so he was referred to an attorney identified as 39-year-old Dustin Cole by another attorney who had previously represented him.

The man told police he contacted Cole who told him he could loan him the money to pay off his remaining debt. The man went on to say his mother recently passed away so he was trying to sell her home in New Castle.

According to police, Cole told the man he would not charge him anything to loan the money if he agreed to let him handle the sale and closing of the New Castle home and the man agreed to pay him back through the funds he obtained through the sale of the home. He went on to say the attorney fees would suffice as interest.

Police say in March of 2021, the man was notified that his home went up for a sheriff sale causing him to panic and call Cole multiple times that week. Eventually, Cole got back to the man and told him he had the paperwork ready and to meet him in a parking lot across from the attorney's office.

During the meeting, police say Cole had the man sign a document indicating that he was no longer his attorney and that he was doing this as a friend, not an attorney.

According to police Cole then told the man that he had to charge him some interest on the loan and that he "probably wasn't going to like it." Cole also told him the loan had doubled to $36,854.72 and that he was charging him 100% interest on it with the term of the loan being six months.

This is well over Pennsylvania's legal limit of 6% per annum.

Police say the man was unhappy because this was not in line with Cole's previous promise to him, but Cole told him he "had to do this because of who he borrowed the money off of" and that Cole repeatedly assured him he was "not a bad guy."

The man told police he took the loan only because he felt like he had no other options.

The man went on to say Cole had a document that he claimed was a deed transfer to his property and made the man sign it. Cole allegedly told the man that he would not file the document and instead hold onto it in case something were to happen.

The male said no one else was present at this meeting and he never went before a notary. The male also said he was frustrated because Cole only had one copy of the document.

Months went by with no contact between Cole and the man until police say he contacted Cole to meet with him after he could not keep up with payments because he made less than he thought he would with the sale of his mother's home.

Eventually, the man decided he needed to sell his own home to keep up with the payments, but when he inquired with a neighbor about this, police say he learned that in December of 2021, Cole transferred the deed to the man's property into his name and filed it without the man's knowledge.

Police say this deed was notarized by Jenny Laslow, a notary public with A-1 Abstract & Settlement in May of 2021 and was filed with the county recorder's office the following month.

According to the complaint, court records indicate that an ejection motion was also filed in order to get the man out of the home.

Police spoke with Laslow who told officers that the man was never in her presence when he signed any documents and admitted to notarizing the documents in May. She also told police that she could not confirm whether or not the man signed the documents and simply trusted Cole that he did.

Police say Laslow did not keep a journal or proper documentation of her notary actions, which is a violation of Pennsylvania law.

Police then spoke with Cole who told officers that this entire arrangement was due to the man begging him to help in this way and that it was the man's idea to double the loan.

Cole also told police that he did indeed file the documents transferring the man's home into his own name and filed for ejection after he couldn't get the man to pay him back.

When Cole provided police with documentation from these interactions, police say Cole would not disclose where the funding to pay off the balance of the man's prior mortgage came from.

During a search warrant conducted at the office of Cole Law in February of 2022, police found a check receipt from Pennstar Federal Credit Union for the amount the man owed on his mortgage.

A search warrant was later conducted via email at Pennstar in May which indicate that Laslow was the owner of the account the money was withdrawn from. 

After this, police spoke with Laslow again who admitted to withdrawing these funds from her account stating that she did the because the man came into the office last minute and there was little time for the funds to be gathered.

Laslow further told police the agreement was between her and Cole rather than the victim and there was no agreement in place as to how Cole would pay her back or when and also told police that it is common for her to loan people money with no agreement regarding paying her back.

When police questioned Laslow on why she didn't tell officers this during their initial conversation, she said it was because they never asked. 

Police say Laslow told officers Cole does not usually deal with real estate transactions and has little experience with them, she also allegedly admitted that she and her husband have purchase and flipped several properties in the area.

Cole is charged with multiple counts of theft by deception, as well as maximum lawful interest rate. Laslow is charged with one count of theft by deception.

Both are due to appear in court on October 16 for a preliminary hearing.