Leonard E. Williams, 52, Sacramento, California, was found guilty after a six–day trial in a mortgage fraud case of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. The trial was held before United States District Judge William B. Shubb.
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David Pizio, 58, Jamesville, New York, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court to the felony offense of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The defendant is facing a statutory maximum of 30 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1,000,000.00.
Alan J. Dornhuber, 64, Las Vegas, Nevada, a fugitive, has been arrested in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on a warrant for various felony theft and fraud charges for his operation of mortgage fraud in Las Vegas.
15 states filed lawsuits on mortgage scam operations in coordination with the joint federal-state sweep by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. The lawsuits target scam operations that prey on delinquent homeowners or those facing foreclosure.
Ronald L. Roberts, 54, Town and Country, Missouri, pled guilty to charges of mail and wire fraud in connection with his obtaining more than a million dollars from lenders in what he now admits was a loan fraud scheme.
Charles Espinel, 61, and Jeannette Espinel, 58, Daly City, California, a former 32 year FBI employee and his wife, pleaded guilty in federal court to Bank Fraud charges for their roles in securing mortgages based on fraudulent loan applications.
Demetrius Peete, 46, Manassas, Virginia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar to a year and a day in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme, which resulted in losses attributable to Peete of approximately $1.5 million.
Donald Keith Goff, 66, Laguna Niguel, California, has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a series of fraud schemes that include one in which he worked with his criminal defense attorney to fraudulently apply for millions of dollars of loans using a straw buyer.
Sofia Atias, 44, Great Neck, New York, Joseph Atias, 50, Great Neck, Nicholas A. Pellegrini, 51, Garden City, New York, and Paula Berckhoff, 34, Garden City, have been charged with bank fraud and conspiracy for allegedly defrauding Bank of America of over half a million dollars by avoiding foreclosure on a home through a fraudulent short sale of the property to a straw buyer.
**** UPDATE: APRIL 20, 2020: On April 15, 2019, after a nine day jury trial, Damon Grant Carriger was found NOT GUILTY on Count 5,8,10-11,14,17-18,21-22. Aminullah Sarpas was found GUILTY on Count 1,5,8,10-11,14,17-18,21,24, and NOT GUILTY on Count 31. The jury DEADLOCKED on count 1 for Carriger and count 22 for Sarpas and the court declared a mistrial as to those counts. (Count 1 is Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud; Counts 2 through 27 are mail fraud, counts 28 through 31 are wire fraud, counts 32 and 33 are money laundering.)
Count 1 was retried as to Damon Grant Carriger and, following a four day jury trial on that count, on February 24, 2020, Damon Grant Carriger was found NOT GUILTY.
On August 31, 2015, Louis Saggiani pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The docket contains multiple documents filed under seal. The trial memorandum filed by the government indicates that both Saggiani and Samuel Paul Bain had pled guilty. None of the defendants have been sentenced.
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Samuel Paul Bain, aka Paul Bain, 35, Tustin, California, an owner and principal of the businesses, Aminullah Sarpas, aka Amin Sarpas and David Sarpas, 32, Irvine, California, also an owner and principal of the businesses, Damon Grant Carriger, 36, Corona, California, the principal sales manager, and Louis Saggiani, 64, Huntington Beach, California, the manager and chief accountant, have been arrested for allegedly offering bogus loan modification programs to financially distressed homeowners.