Matthew Wada, 36, New York, New York, and Jennifer York, 27, Suffern, New York, have been indicted for engaging in an apartment rental scam that defrauded more than 20 victims – many of whom were moving to New York City for the first time – out of approximately $60,000 dollars.
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Howard Drossner, 53, Ambler, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 40 months in prison for conspiring to defraud FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., a Texas-based financial services company, which had been targeted for extortionate takeover and looting by a group led by Lucchese organized crime family member Nicodemo S. Scarfo.
Selim Zherka, 46, Somers, New York, was indicted by a federal grand jury in White Plains for submitting multiple false loan applications to banks, tax fraud, wire fraud, and witness tampering. Zherka allegedly obtained over $146 million in loans from three banks for the purchase and/or refinancing of apartment house complexes by lying about the purchase prices, the down payments, his assets, income, and tax returns.
Steven E. Jones, 56, a family court judge, and four co-defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for defrauding over 22 people of millions in an investment fraud scheme involving real estate transactions. As part of his plea agreement with the government, Jones agreed to step down from the bench and surrender his law license to the State Bar of Nevada.
Fred Davis Clark, Jr., a/k/a Dave Clark, 56, and Cristal R. Clark, a/k/a Cristal R. Coleman, 41, both formerly of Monroe County, Florida, were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and multiple counts of bank fraud, in connection with a $300 million fraud scheme involving the sale of vacation real estate units to approximately 1,400 investors in the Florida Keys and elsewhere.
Douglas Carter and James Spillers have been arrested by the Collier County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office for allegedly operating an advance fee for loan scheme targeting victims throughout the United States and Canada.
Reyna Peinado, 48, Huntington Beach, California, an auctioneer who defrauded banks by accepting bribes to lower the amount of winning bids in trustee auctions, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison.
Alan Tikal, 46, Brentwood, California, was found guilty after a one-day bench trial on stipulated facts by United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley of 11 counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering. Tikal targeted struggling homeowners, many of whom did not speak English, and promised them that their outstanding mortgage debt would be reduced by 75 percent, among other misrepresentations.
Christopher Jackson, 46, Elk Grove, California, was sentenced to 30 years in prison; Michael Bolden, 60, Sacramento, California, was sentenced to 20 years in prison; and Victor Alvarado, 53, Sacramento, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for their roles in the Diversified Management Consultants real estate Ponzi scheme. .
Michael Rene Berlon, 55, Grayson, Georgia, former attorney, has been arraigned on federal charges of mail and wire fraud in Utah for his role in defrauding clients in an advance fee loan scam.