Jury Convicts Man in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  March 20, 2019 — Leave a comment

Erik Hermann Green, 37, Roseville, California was found guilty on Tuesday of three counts of wire fraud in a mortgage fraud scheme.

According to evidence presented at trial, Green was part of a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme to defraud the New Century Mortgage Company by submitting false documentation about employment, income and assets, including fraudulent loan applications and other altered bank documents. Around October 2006, when Green submitted his fraudulent loan applications to obtain a loan for $820,000, he was a licensed real estate sales person and managed approximately 15 loan officers. As part of the scheme, Green received a check for $100,000 that was funneled through a shell company at the close of escrow. Green used the funds for personal expenses.

Co-defendants Stephen Pirt and Janis Pirt previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Stephen Pirt was sentenced in 2015 to 25 months in prison and in 2014, Janis Pirt was sentenced to five years of probation with a year of home detention.

Green is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on June 13, 2019. Green faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of conviction. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott made the announcement.

This case is the product of an investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Anderson and Miriam R. Hinman are prosecuting the case.

 

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11 Charged in National Foreclosure Relief Scam

Stephanie Abbott —  March 20, 2019 — Leave a comment

Eleven people from across the country have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a scheme to defraud distressed homeowners by falsely representing that they could help the victims save their homes. The indictment was returned on March 6, 2019 and unsealed today.

Eight defendants have been arrested to date:

NameAlso Known AsAgeResidence
Lorin K. Buckner62Hamilton, Ohio
Garrett Stevenson41Cincinnati, Ohio
Damien Byrd40Norfolk, Virginia
Stacy Kay Slaughter58Gahanna, Ohio
Marcus A. Mullings, Jr.57Hackensack, New Jersey
Talia Marie Stephen-MullingsMarie Hightower36Hackensack, New Jersey
Amal Mahepaul BalmacoonMartin37South Ozone Park,  New York
John Nelson66Brooklyn, New York

Companies named in the indictment include:

  • MVP Home Solutions, LLC, also known as Stay In or Walk Away
  • Bolden Pinnacle Group Corp., also known as Home Advisory Services Network andHome Advisory Services Group Inc.
  • Silverstein & Wolf Corp.

Joel Harvey, 36, Cincinnati, Ohio, Dessalines Sealy, 55, Brooklyn, New York, and Rafiq Bashir, 35, Jacksonville, Florida have also been charged in the indictment.

According to the 26-count indictment, from 2013 through 2018, the defendants took advantage of homeowners’ desperation to save their homes and used money from homeowner victims to personally enrich themselves.

It is alleged that defendants were involved in a multilevel marketing scheme, which promised affiliates commissions by recruiting distressed homeowners to the above named companies.

They used multiple ways to recruit affiliates, including conference calls and direct mailings. For example, some co-conspirators hosted weekly conference calls where participants from across the country dialed in to hear details of the scheme and share sales strategies. During the calls, defendants encouraged affiliates to recruit homeowners to their companies on the promise of easy money.

Some co-conspirators also allegedly promoted, organized and attended conferences in which affiliates came to hear details of the scheme in person. For example, some co-conspirators organized and participated in a national conference in Columbus, Ohio in April 2015 in which they provided “deep impact training” and techniques for affiliates to convince homeowners to enroll in Bolden Pinnacle Group and Silverstein & Wolf Corporation programs.

Affiliates were encouraged to be aggressive in recruiting homeowners. Affiliates used online databases and court records to identify vulnerable, financially distressed homeowners who had recently received notice of foreclosure on their home.

According to the indictment, some co-conspirators mailed more than 22,000 postcards in the Southern District of Ohio and elsewhere promising that they could “stop foreclosure” or “stop the sheriff sale” for a fixed fee. Co-conspirators also reached out to homeowners using Craigslist ads, websites, emails and social media platforms.

On the promise of reducing or eliminating mortgage obligations in exchange for a fee, initial recruiters would collect payments from homeowners and refer the victims to the co-conspirator companies.

Among other things, the referral programs promised:

  • to negotiate with mortgage lenders on the homeowners’ behalf for the purchase of the mortgage notes at a discount;
  • to negotiate the sale of their home and release of their mortgage loans through a short sale and/or deed in lieu of foreclosure sale;
  • to stop an imminent foreclosure sale;
  • to remove the mortgage lien via a tender offer; and
  • achieve short sale prices at a fraction of the value of the outstanding lien/note.

Further, defendants represented that they had “proprietary” methods or “legal tactics” to help homeowners stall or completely avoid foreclosure. In actuality, the indictment says defendants persuaded homeowners to file chapter 13 bankruptcies in order to delay foreclosure actions.

Defendants allegedly filed skeletal bankruptcy petitions that they called “pump fakes.” These petitions intentionally failed to disclose the co-conspirators as preparers and named the homeowners as filing pro se. Any relief from foreclosure delay was temporary until the bankruptcy court dismissed the proceeding.

In 2014 alone, one defendant allegedly prepared and filed petitions for 30 homeowners without their knowledge, including four homeowners in the Southern District of Ohio.

The indictment includes one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of bankruptcy fraud, one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

“These programs were fraudulent,” U.S. Attorney Glassman said. “The defendants performed virtually no negotiations on behalf of the homeowners and never successfully purchased a mortgage note or provided a new, lower-cost mortgage. They never removed a mortgage lien or performed short sales as advertised.”

“To prey on individuals desperate to find a way to save their homes is unconscionable. What makes this crime even more egregious is the alleged methods these individuals used to lure their victims, and the extensive planning and details by these scammers to not take ‘no’ for an answer if a victim was not willing to enter their program. If you believe in karma, this is what law enforcement brought today when these scammers were arrested and brought to justice for their despicable crimes,” said Inspector in Charge Philip R. Bartlett.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Robert  Manchak, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Housing Finance Agency –  Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG), Northeast Region, Todd Wickerham, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Pittsburgh Division, and Philip R. Bartlett, Inspector in Charge, USPIS, New York region, announced the charges.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FHFA-OIG, USPIS, and FBI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Ebunoluwa A. Taiwo, who is prosecuting the case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

If you believe you are a potential victim of this fraud, please contact the FBI at CIForeclosure@fbi.gov or 513-421-4310.

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Two Arraigned In Reverse Mortgage Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  March 18, 2019 — Leave a comment

Rafael Peralta, 46, Clifton, New Jersey, and Philip Puccio Jr., 40, Mahwah, New Jersey were arraigned today for their respective roles in a reverse mortgage scheme that took advantage of several elderly homeowners.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From November 2007 through December 2010, Peralta and Puccio, home repair contractors, allegedly conspired to fraudulently obtain Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), also known as reverse mortgage, proceeds by submitting inflated and fraudulent documentation to various victim banks to influence their decision to approve and fund HECMs. Peralta and Puccio recruited a conspirator to prepare inflated real estate appraisals that falsely increased the value of the properties securing the HECMs, thereby influencing each lender’s decision to provide loans in amounts greater than what would otherwise be available.

Peralta and Puccio also caused the submission of false and fraudulent loan documents that actively concealed the disbursement of loan proceeds to Peralta, Puccio, and entities they owned and controlled. The diverted loan proceeds were deposited into bank accounts controlled by Peralta and Puccio and used for their personal benefit and to further the conspiracy.

Peralta and Puccio Jr., were indicted February 8, 2019, by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and six counts of bank fraud. They were arraigned March 15, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court.

The conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud charges carry a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1 million, or twice the gross pecuniary gain by the defendants or twice the gross pecuniary loss to others, whichever is greater.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito made the announcement.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Manchak; special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie; and special agents of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi, with the investigation leading the charges.

The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Di Gregory and Charlie Divine of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of the Inspector General.

 

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Guilty Plea In Multi-Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  March 15, 2019 — Leave a comment

Patrick Ogiony, 35, Buffalo, New York, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Between March 2011 and June 2017, the defendant conspired with co-defendants Frank Giacobbe, Kevin Morgan, Todd Morgan, and others, to defraud financial institutions, including Evans Bank, N.A.; UBS Securities LLC; M&T Bank; Arbor Commercial Mortgage LLC; SteepRock Capital, LLC; and Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC.

During the course of the conspiracy, Ogiony was employed by Aurora Capital Advisors, LLC, a mortgage brokerage company owned and operated by Frank Giacobbe. Through Aurora, the defendant brokered mortgage loans on behalf of Morgan Management, LLC, a real estate management company that managed over 100 multi-family properties. Kevin Morgan was employed as a Vice President at Morgan Management, and Todd Morgan was employed as a Project Manager.

Ogiony, his co-defendants, and others provided false information to financial institutions and government sponsored enterprises overstating the incomes of properties owned by Morgan Management or certain principals of Morgan Management. The false information induced financial institutions to issue loans: (1) for greater values than the financial institutions would have authorized had they been provided with truthful information; and (2) that the financial institutions would not have issued at the time of issuance had they been provided with truthful information. Ogiony admitted that these properties included:

• The Preserve at Autumn Ridge, Watertown, NY;
• The Eden Square Apartments, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania;
• The Rochester Village Apartments at Park Place, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania;
• The Reserve at Southpointe, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania;
• 7100 South Shore Drive Apartments, Chicago, Illinois;
• The Avon Commons Apartments, Avon, NY;
• The Morgan Bay Apartments, Houston, Texas;
• Brookwood on the Green, Syracuse, NY;
• The Creek Hill Apartments, Rochester, NY;
• Hickory Hollow, Rochester, NY;
• The Knollwood Manor Apartments, Rochester, NY;
• The Links at Centerpointe, Canandaigua, NY;
• The Nineteen North Apartments, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;
• The Overlook at Golden Hills, Lexington, South Carolina;
• The Penbrooke Meadows Apartments, Rochester, NY;
• The Trails of North Hills Apartments, Raleigh, North Carolina;
• The Rivers Pointe Apartments, Syracuse, NY;
• The Union Square Apartments, Rochester, NY;
• The View at MacKenzi, York, Pennsylvania; and
• The Villas of Victor, Rochester, NY.

In addition, the defendant, his co-defendants, and others employed various mechanisms to mislead financial institutions regarding the properties’ occupancy. Ogiony specifically:

• provided false rent rolls to lenders and appraisers on a variety of dates, overstating either the number of renters in a property, the rent paid by occupants;
• provided or conspired to provide false and inflated income statements for the properties; and
• worked with others to deceive inspectors into believing that unoccupied apartments were, in fact, occupied.

In one such instance, Ogiony and his co-defendants provided false information to Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, LLC, in connection with The Rochester Village Apartments at Park Place, a multi-family residential apartment owned by Morgan Management principals. The information included falsely inflated income from storage unit rentals, false reports of rental income, and falsely reporting apartment units as occupied before certificates of occupancy were obtained for those units.

Also, Ogiony, his co-defendants, and others made misrepresentations and engaged in conduct designed to conceal from the lending financial institutions that they obtained cash from the loan proceeds, which was not used to purchase or maintain the premises. Ogiony, his co-defendants, and others did so by, at times, providing false documentation of obligations purportedly associated with the properties, and by misrepresenting the actual purchase prices of properties.

Defendant Kevin Morgan was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and is awaiting sentencing. Charges remain pending against Frank Giacobbe and Todd Morgan. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Manchak.

U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. made the announcement.

Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

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Prison for Man Forging Deed and Stealing House from Elderly Neighbor

Stephanie Abbott —  March 13, 2019 — Leave a comment

Winston Gregory Hall, aka “Sage El,” 37, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, who absconded during his trial, was sentenced today to three to nine years in state prison. He was convicted by a jury of grand larceny and other charges for stealing a house owned by his 84-year-old next-door neighbor by forging a deed and other documents that transferred ownership of the property to a trust in his name.

According to the evidence, on April 16, 2015, the defendant created the Winston Gregory Hall Express Trust, of which he was the trustee. One week later, on April 23, 2015, a deed was executed by the victim, the owner of 390 East 49th Street, Brooklyn, New York, transferring ownership of the property to the defendant’s trust. Further, on May 8, 2015, the deed and related tax documents, also forged, were filed at the New York City Register’s Office. On May 18, 2015, the deed was recorded with the New York City Department of Finance, at which time the estimated market value of the property was $445,000.

The victim stated that she did not know the defendant and never intended to transfer ownership of her home to the defendant.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez made the announcement.

The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, between April and May of 2015, the defendant perpetrated a fraud to steal the title to 390 East 49th Street in Brooklyn, a three-family home owned by his next-door neighbor, an 84-year-old woman who lived with a family member in New Jersey.

The defendant was sentenced to an indeterminate term of three to nine years in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun. The defendant was convicted of second-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing. The defendant absconded after the jury trial began and was convicted in absentia on October 23, 2018. He was picked up in Brooklyn by police two months after absconding.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant twice showed a disregard for the rule of law, first by stealing his neighbor’s house and then absconding during his trial. He’s now been held accountable. This case is part of my continuing commitment to ensuring justice for Brooklyn homeowners who are all too often the target of unscrupulous individuals.”

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Frank Dudis and Senior Assistant District Attorney Ellen Koenig, of the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Richard Farrell, Unit Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of the Investigations Division.

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Former Rocker Sentenced in Nationwide Real Estate Scam

Stephanie Abbott —  March 7, 2019 — Leave a comment

Michael S. Davenport, 50, Santa Barbara, California, the former bass guitar player for the rock band, The Ataris, was sentenced on Wednesday for defrauding thousands of would-be renters and home-buyers throughout the United States from 2009 to 2016.

Davenport’s Santa Barbara-based business changed names several times but was known variously as MDSQ Productions LLC, Housing Standard LLC, Anchor House Financial, American Standard, American Standard Online, and Your American Standard. Court documents simply refer to the business as “American Standard.”

As part of his guilty plea, Davenport admitted that American Standard posted ads on Craigslist listing certain houses for sale or rent at very favorable prices, when, in fact, the houses described in the ads didn’t exist. Consumers who responded to the ads were told they would have to purchase American Standard’s list of houses before they could see any additional information. Consumers were also told that the houses on American Standard’s list were in “pre-foreclosure,” that they could purchase the properties by simply taking over the homeowners’ mortgage payments, and that the deeds to the homes would then be transferred into the customers’ names. The $199 fee that American Standard charged to access the list was purportedly to cover the cost of title searches and deed transfers. No matter what area of the country the consumer lived in, American Standard salespersons told them that the list contained numerous pre-foreclosure properties available in their area.

After consumers paid the $199 fee, they learned that the houses on American Standard’s list were not actually available for purchase. A substantial number of the addresses contained on the list were fictional, or there were simply no houses at those locations. In numerous other instances, the houses were not in pre-foreclosure or any financial distress and were not available to be purchased at below-market prices. If an American Standard customer asked for more information about a specific house advertised on Craigslist, the company’s customer service department always told them that the house was no longer available.

Davenport’s conspiracy and scheme to defraud operated from approximately January 2009 through at least October 5, 2016, over which time American Standard defrauded more than 130,000 people to the tune of more than $25 million. The victims were located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Over 100 victims of the scam were located within the Southern District of Illinois, spread across 22 counties, with multiple victims in both St. Clair and Madison counties. American Standard’s list included 534 houses located in Southern Illinois.

Four of Davenport’s former employees have also been charged with participating in the American Standard fraud conspiracy. On Wednesday afternoon, just hours after Davenport’s sentencing, Cynthia L. Rawlinson, 52, Santa Barbara, California was sentenced by Judge Yandle to five years of supervised release. Rawlinson was a salesperson who also served as a manager for American Standard for a brief period of time. Earlier this year, two other American Standard sales representatives from Santa Barbara, California, Mark A. Phillips, 50, Semjase E. Santana, 37 were also sentenced to serve five years of supervised release. And last June, Carlynne L. Davis, 34, Lompoc, California, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with her participation in American Standard. Davis’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 5, 2019.

In handing down the seven-year sentence at the federal district courthouse in Benton, Illinois, United States District Judge Staci M. Yandle chastised Davenport for what she characterized as a crime of simple greed. “You were intoxicated with making all this money,” she told the ex-rocker. “You did horrible things.”

As part of his sentence, Davenport was ordered to forfeit $853,210.11 in fraud proceeds that were recovered from his credit card processing accounts, as well as $79,000 in cash that was seized from him at the Bill and Hillary Clinton Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Davenport pled guilty last September to a one-count federal indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

This case is part of an ongoing investigation by the St. Louis Field Office of the Chicago Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. The Office of the Honorable Joyce E. Dudley, District Attorney for Santa Barbara County, and the Santa Maria Office of the FBI have provided substantial assistance in the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Scott A. Verseman.

 

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Real Estate Broker Sentenced In Mortgage Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  March 6, 2019 — Leave a comment

Geo Geovanni, 50, Moultrie, Georgia has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Geovanni worked as a real estate broker who owned his own brokerage firm based in Orlando, Florida. Between May and August 2008, Geovanni sold condominium units at The Landing, Altamonte Springs, Florida. Geovanni engaged in a conspiracy to conceal from mortgage lenders sales incentives that he provided to the buyers. These undisclosed incentives included making the buyers’ down payments and paying kickbacks after closing. As a result of his actions, Geovanni helped cause the loss of approximately $736,000 to the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac), and JP Morgan Chase Bank when the mortgages involved in the fraudulent transactions went into foreclosure. http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/?s=Geo+Geovanni

As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment of $56,984.34, the proceeds of the fraud scheme. A federal jury found Geovanni guilty on November 29, 2018.

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Chris Poor and Joseph Capone.

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Couple Sentenced for Orchestrating Loan Modification Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  March 1, 2019 — Leave a comment

Rodrigo Pardo, 46, Argentina, and Lorena Medina, 46, Ecuador, a South American couple were each sentenced today for conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud.

According to court documents, Pardo and Medina, defrauded homeowners in Northern Virginia and mortgage lenders by promising the homeowners to assist them in obtaining loan modifications. As part of the scheme, Pardo and Medina agreed to negotiate with the homeowners’ lenders for a reduced monthly payment. Pardo and Medina then instructed clients who were current on their mortgages to stop making payments to their lenders as they had in the past, and instead make payments into accounts controlled by Medina, Pardo, or COFS, a company they controlled. At the same time, Pardo and Medina represented to their clients’ mortgage lenders that COFS was authorized to negotiate loan modifications, but concealed from the mortgage lenders that they were receiving mortgage payments from the victims. As a result, Pardo and Medina received over $140,000 in payments from their victims, which they used for personal expenses. http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/?s=Rodrigo+Pardo

Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Matthew J. DeSarno, Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Division, FBI Washington Field Office, and Robert Manchak, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Office of Inspector General for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly R. Pedersen and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlie Divine prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:18-cr-181.

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Man Extradited From Ireland Sentenced On Mortgage Fraud Charges

Stephanie Abbott —  March 1, 2019 — Leave a comment

Patrick Lee, 46, formerly of Canton and Easton, Massachusetts,  a dual United States-Irish citizen was sentenced yesterday on charges arising out of a multi-year mortgage fraud scheme.

Between July 2005 and May 2007, Lee engaged with others in a mortgage fraud scheme. Specifically, Lee or a relative bought five multi-family buildings in Dorchester and South Boston, Massachusetts financed those purchases with fraudulently obtained mortgage loans, and quickly converted the buildings to condominiums which facilitated the resale of individual units in the buildings to straw buyers. The straw buyers were recruited for this purpose and their purchases were financed with fraudulently obtained mortgage loans. The straw buyers were assured that they would not have to put any money down or pay the mortgages, and that they would get a fee at closing and/or a share of the profits when the properties were sold. The loans were funded with interstate wire transfers from the mortgage lenders to the closing attorneys’ conveyancing accounts, and the proceeds were then distributed to Lee and/or a family member, the recruiters, and others involved in the scheme. According to the government, mortgage lenders suffered losses of about $3.9 million. Many of the lenders are no longer in business or no longer hold the fraudulent loans at issue. http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/?s=Patrick+Lee

Lee was sentenced to four years in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $842,552 to victim lenders. Lee will also be subject to asset forfeiture, in an amount to be determined later.

In November 2018, Lee pleaded guilty to wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction. He was extradited from Ireland in 2017 to face the charges, marking the first extradition from Ireland to the United States since 2012.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; Stephen A. Marks, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office; and John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra S. Bower and Christine Wichers of Lelling’s Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

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CPA Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Charges

Stephanie Abbott —  February 25, 2019 — Leave a comment

David Plunkett, 53, Lynn, Massachusetts pleaded guilty today to assisting a multi-year mortgage fraud scheme by creating fraudulent tax returns and submitting fraudulent letters to lenders.

George Kritopoulos, 46, Salem, Massachusetts, one of the alleged leaders of the mortgage fraud scheme, was indicted in September 2018, and has pleaded not guilty. Co-conspirator, Joseph Bates III, 38, of Lynnfield, Massachusetts pleaded guilty in October 2018 to one count of conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, and two counts of bank fraud.

According to the charging documents, from 2006 through 2015, Bates and others engaged in a scheme to defraud banks and other financial institutions by causing false information to be submitted to those institutions on behalf of borrowers, people recruited to purchase properties, located primarily in Salem, Massachusetts. The properties were usually multi-family buildings with two-to-four units, which the co-conspirators then converted into condominiums. The co-conspirators recruited other borrowers to purchase the individual condominium units, which were also financed by fraudulent mortgage loans.

The false information submitted to lenders included, among other things, representations concerning the borrowers’ employment, income, assets, and intent to occupy the property. Specifically, the false employment information included representations that borrowers were employed by entities that were, in fact, shell companies used to advance the fraudulent scheme. The employment information included false representations about the income that the borrowers received from the entities, when, in fact, the borrowers received little or no income from them.  Furthermore, the income asserted on the borrowers’ loan applications substantially overstated their true income. The false information also included representations that the recruited borrowers intended to live in the properties that they were purchasing, when the borrowers, in fact, did not intend to do so.

Plunkett assisted the scheme by preparing tax returns for some of the borrowers that contained false and inflated income. Some of those tax returns were submitted to lenders in support of the fraudulent loan applications. Plunkett also signed letters falsely representing that his CPA firm had prepared corporate tax returns for one of the shell entities, when in fact no such returns had ever been prepared or filed.

Because the borrowers did not have the financial ability to repay the loans, in many instances, they defaulted on their loan payments, resulting in foreclosures and millions of dollars of losses to the financial institutions. http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/?s=David+Plunkett

Plunkett plead guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aiding in the submission of false tax returns.

The charge of bank fraud provides for a sentence of no greater than 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of $1 million, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of aiding in filing a false tax return provides for a sentence of no greater than three years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for June 25, 2019.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Northeastern Regional Office; and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark J. Balthazard and Sara Miron Bloom of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

 

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