11 companies and five individuals have been charged with running an illegal mortgage relief scheme, which operated under various names.
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Kil Seok (“Michael”) Seo, 49, formerly of Fairfax, Virginia, pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in connection with his involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme.
Jennifer McTigue, 46, and Sakara Blackwell, a/k/a: Dawn Sakaguchi, 38, both of Honolulu, Hawaii, were arraigned in United States District Court after a federal grand jury returned a forty-five (45) count indictment against them and Marc Melton, 43, for fraud, money laundering and other offenses relating to a debt elimination scheme to defraud lending institutions, buyers of real property and escrow companies through a process of filing fraudulent mortgage release documents with the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances.
Lawrence Allen Wright, 46, Niceville, Florida, was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $3.7 million in restitution.
Edmund Chatham, Roswell, Georgia, and Steven Connelly, Alpharetta, Georgia, have been indicted by a Fulton County Grand Jury and charged with one count of Racketeering (O.C.G.A. §16-14-4(a)) for their role in a scheme using senior citizens to fraudulently obtain payouts from mortgage lenders for reverse mortgages.
James Thomas Webb, 52, Leland, North Carolina, a former real estate developer, was sentenced to 327 months imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. The court further ordered that Webb make total restitution of $11,946,739.80 to his victims.
Jose Filgueiras, 43, and his wife, Raquel Filgueiras, 39, both of Miami, Florida, were sentenced for their roles in a $2.4 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Eric Gagnepain, 41, Nixa, MIssouri, who was a co-owner of Greenleaf Companies, has pleaded guilty in federal court to aiding and abetting a bank fraud conspiracy that was part of a multi-million-dollar mortgage investment scheme.
Tega Burns, 41, Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for committing tax fraud and mortgage fraud. Burns was also ordered to serve two years under court supervision following her prison term and to pay $201,039.43 in restitution to IRS, $57,450.00 in restitution to Bank of America, and $48,483.00 in restitution to CIT Group/Consumer Finance.
Sandra Elaine Barton, 30, Fresno, California, Christopher Spencer Barton, 31, Fresno, California, Daniel Paul Vedenoff, 29, Fresno, California, Sheldon W. Feigel, 50, Fresno, California, and Craig Merrill Mortensen, Fresno, California, were arrested and charged with 288 felony counts including perjury, filing false court records and preparing false evidence. The five individuals arrested were booked into the Fresno County Jail on bail ranging from $27,500 to $1,795,000. Cambria Lisa Barton, 21, Fresno, California, who was also charged, remains at large.