Dwayne Stewart, 44, West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by the Honorable Carolyn Nichols to 2.5 to 5 years in state prison followed by ten years of probation and ordered to pay over $86,000.00 in restitution following Stewart’s guilty plea for “stealing” West Philadelphia houses using forged deeds.
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Martin A. Pool, 44, Atlanta, Georgia, and Armand R. Franquelin, 57, Liberty, Utah, pleaded guilty to securities fraud and money laundering in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Utah. The defendants admitted persuading investors to direct funds to their company, The Elva Group, in return for promissory notes with a promise of monthly interest payments at annual rates between 8 percent and 20 percent.
Mark Henry Tkac, 49, Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever, III to a 42-month term of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, and pay $1,612,612.94 in restitution for running a straw buyer scam. The defendant used his expertise in real estate to exploit mortgage lenders.
Steven Pitchersky, 65, Rancho Mirage, California, was sentenced to 51 months in prison for a scheme to defraud Ally Bank that resulted in losses to the bank of approximately $5.3 million. Pitchersky, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud on September 23, 2013, operated Nationwide Mortgage Concepts, a California mortgage lender.
Seven defendants, including an attorney, have been indicted for allegedly defrauding over 3,500 victims to the tune of $13.5 million in the largest loan modification scheme ever prosecuted in the nation.
Joseph Del Valle, 59, Aventura, Florida, an owner and partner of various investment companies, including Vanquish Acquisition Partners LLC and PM Capital Management LLC, which were based in Manhattan, New York, surrendered on charges of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy for operating a fraudulent scheme related to a Florida real estate development project.
Richard Dean Woolsey, 42, Grosse Ile Township, Michigan, was sentenced after being convicted at trial of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme. Woolsey and his conspirators disguised the source of down payments and provided false and inflated appraisals for properties, among other things.
Joshua Clymer, 28, San Francisco, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with his use of fraudulent tactics to help buyers secure home loans from lenders, including inflating income, falsifying employment histories, and giving undisclosed cash back to some buyers outside of escrow.
George Dravilas, 36, Medinah, Illinois, and Bridget Hutcherson, 40, Chicago, Illinois, were arrested on federal charges for allegedly engaging in a bank fraud scheme purporting to involve the fraudulent sale of two two-flat apartment buildings in Chicago. The charges followed a investigation of fraudulent mortgage loan transactions wherein an undercover agent posed as a mortgage broker who was engaged in fraud and was seeking assistance in structuring fraudulent mortgage loan transactions.
Six individuals, including a condominium developer and two attorneys, are facing federal charges for allegedly engaging in a $22.8 million mortgage loan fraud scheme. The defendants allegedly caused buyers to fraudulently obtain approximately 60 mortgages from various lenders to purchase condominiums.