Crime & Safety

Atlantic Highlands Man Pleads Guilty to Real Estate Fraud

Alexander Iler, a disbarred Red Bank attorney, admitted fraudulently converting the ownership of a Middletown property to his own name.

A former Red Bank-based attorney, disbarred in June 2012, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of stealing real property from the estate of a deceased woman and embezzling money from his former clients, according to a release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. 

Alexander Iler, 39, of Atlantic Highlands pleaded guilty to one count of second degree theft of immovable property and one count of second degree theft by deception before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Francis J. Vernoia, P.J.Cr., according to the release. 

An investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office revealed Iler fraudulently assumed ownership of real property situated in Middletown when a deed bearing the forged signature of the “seller” was recorded at the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office, according to the Prosecutor's Office. At the time of the fraudulent transfer, the land was owned by the estate of a woman from whom Iler had been leasing the property. Though no sale of the property had actually taken place, the fraudulent document purported to reflect a transfer of the property to Iler for $575,000 in December 2011. Iler subsequently encumbered the real estate by using it to secure a mortgage.

Iler was arrested in connection with these charges on October 24, 2012, and was remanded to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in lieu of $250,000 bail, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Richard W. English, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Iler also pleaded guilty to four counts each of second and third degree charges of theft by failure to make required disposition of property received. These charges came about as a result of an additional investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office which revealed Iler stole money belonging to his former clients in excess of $500,000.

Iler was arrested in connection with this second set of charges on July 30, 2013, and bail was set in the amount of $200,000 by Judge English.

Iler entered his guilty pleas pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, according to the Prosecutor's Office. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the State will recommend Iler be sentenced to an aggregate term of 12 years in New Jersey State Prison. The plea agreement also calls for Iler to consent to the entry of a civil judgment against him in the amount of $572,753.43.

Iler is scheduled to appear before Judge Vernoia for sentencing on Oct. 8.
The case is assigned to Assistant Prosecutor Andrew S. Fried of the Office’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Bureau.

Iler is represented by Dean Schneider, Esq., of Red Bank.


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