Archives For Rachel Dollar

Mortgage Fraud Sentencing for New Jersey Family

Rachel Dollar —  August 4, 2015 — Leave a comment

Christopher Colatrella, 43, Wall Township, New Jersey was sentenced to 5 years in state prison after pleading guilty to 2nd Degree Financial Facilitation of Criminal Activity (Money Laundering) related to an investigation that involved mortgage fraud, theft by deception and money laundering. Christopher Colatrella’s brother John Colatrella, 52, Long Branch, New Jersey was sentenced to 2 years probation for 3rd Degree Conspiracy to Commit Theft by Deception. John Colatrella’s daughter Alexis Colatrella, 29, Wall Township, New Jersey was admitted into Pre-Trial Intervention for her role obtaining fraudulent mortgages.

The investigation involved over $2 million in fraudulent loans for townhouses located in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The criminal activity resulted in a financial benefit totaling over $740,000 from fraudulent mortgages and the proceeds were inserted and laundered through multiple personal and business accounts.

Charges against Martin D’Amato, Clara Cara, Dolores Cittadino and Vincent Veritas were dismissed as part of the plea agreement

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Retrial in Las Vegas Results in Mortgage Fraud Conviction

Rachel Dollar —  August 4, 2015 — Leave a comment

Brett Depue, 42, Gilbert, Arizona, was convicted following a four-day jury trial, and 1½ days of deliberations, of one count of conspiracy to commit mail, bank and wire fraud, and seven counts wire fraud in connection with a Las Vegas mortgage fraud scheme.  Depue was remanded to custody and sentencing is scheduled for November 9 at 9:00 a.m. Depue‘s previous conviction on mortgage fraud charges was overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We are pleased that a second jury determined that Mr. Depue had committed fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden.  “There were over 100 homes used as part of this conspiracy to defraud the financial institutions of millions.” Continue Reading…

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Connecticut Women Gets Probation for Mortgage Fraud

Rachel Dollar —  August 4, 2015 — Leave a comment

Glorvina Constant, 36, New Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced  to one year of probation for participating in a mortgage fraud scheme.  Her husband, Jason Sheehan, 41, New Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced to 37 months in prison for a bankruptcy and tax fraud scheme involving his company, Infinistaff, LLC.  As part of that scheme, Constant received Infinistaff payroll checks totaling $354,000 during the pendency of Infinistaff’s bankruptcy proceedings even though she performed no work for the company. Continue Reading…

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Husband Wife and Notary Accused of Stealing From Elderly Woman

Rachel Dollar —  August 3, 2015 — Leave a comment

A husband and wife have been charged with stealing over $100,000 from an elderly woman with the assistance of a notary public. Christina Espinosa Aldana, 32, Garden Grove, California; Thalia Lugo-Lainez. 37, Garden Grove, California; and Willmar Lainez, 44, Anaheim, California were each charged with three felony counts of filing a false document and three felony counts of forgery with sentencing enhancement allegations for aggravated white collar crime over $100,000, property loss over $65,000 and theft over $100,000. Lugo-Lainez and Lainez are also charged with two felony counts each of grand theft, two felony counts of theft from an elder, and two felony counts of identity theft. Aldana is also charged with three felony counts of perjury by declaration.

Aldana is a registered notary public certified by the California Secretary of State. She is also employed in a clerical position by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA), but does not provide notary services to OCDA.

Between November 7, 2008, and January 1, 2009, Lugo-Lainez and Lainez are accused of living with the elderly victim, the maternal grandmother of Lugo-Lainez, and forging her name on a second mortgage on her home in Garden Grove, California. Aldana is accused of violating her position of trust as a notary public and knowingly submitting and verifying the false documents. Aldana, Lugo-Lainez, and Lainez are each accused of forging the victim’s signature and information on documents to secure a second mortgage on the victim’s home. Lugo-Lainez and Lainez are accused of taking the money received from the second mortgage and depositing it into their own personal bank accounts, resulting in the victim losing over $75,000.

Additionally, Lainez and Lugo-Lainez are accused of stealing the victim’s personal identifying information in 2014, in order to gain access and control over the victim’s primary bank-account. Lainez and Lugo-Lainez are accused of stealing over $40,000 from that account for their own personal use.

When the victim stopped receiving bank statements in 2014, she contacted the bank and discovered the identity theft.  She immediately reported the identity theft to Garden Grove Police Department, who investigated this case and subsequently arrested the defendants. The victim subsequently passed away in June 2014.

If convicted, Lugo-Lainez and Lainez face a maximum sentence of 11 years and four months in state prison, and Aldana faces a maximum sentence of nine years and four months in state prison. Aldana is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, August 3, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. in Department W-12, West Justice Center, Westminster, California. Lainez is scheduled to be arraigned on August 5, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. in Department W-12. Lugo-Lainez remains a fugitive.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Pete Pierce of the Major Fraud Unit is prosecuting this case.

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Down Payment Programs Not a Scam, FHA to Tell Watchdog

The Federal Housing Administration is expected to rebuff a government watchdog report that criticized down payment assistance programs, questioning why low-income borrowers are charged nominally higher mortgage rates for such programs.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General took issue in a report earlier this month with the so-called “premium pricing” of two down payment assistance programs in Arizona.

The watchdog alleged that NOVA Financial & Investment, a Tucson, Ariz.-based mortgage lender, violated HUD rules by charging borrowers nominally higher mortgage rates in return for assistance. It also alleged the lender failed to conduct due diligence on the non-profit government housing finance agencies that administer the down payment assistance programs and wants the lender to repay $48.5 million for 709 loans.

“The gifts were not true gifts as defined by HUD,” the report said. “To be considered a gift…there must be no expected or implied repayment of the funds to the donor by the borrower.”

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onJuly 31, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud
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Trial Continues in Case Against Real Estate Firm Co-Owner Accused of Ponzi Scheme

The trial of a Phoenix man accused of setting up a real estate Ponzi scheme during the Great Recession continued in Santa Ana on Tuesday.

According to federal prosecutors who spoke with jurors at court, Michael J. Stewart—a co-owner of a real estate firm based in Irvine and Long Beach—set up the Ponzi scheme to pay off old investors while continuing to recruit new ones for a plan to flip distressed apartment buildings during the Great Recession’s housing collapse.

Stewart’s attorney told jurors that in fact his client was innocent and thought his plan was financially prudent because homeowners who lost their property in foreclosure would need to rent apartments.

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onJuly 31, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud ,
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 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onJuly 31, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud
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Fryar trial witness: Ex-Eagle’s mother unaware of alleged scam

The mortgage fraud trial of a former Eagles player and his 74-year-old mother took an unexpected turn in a Mount Holly courtroom Thursday when the key prosecution witness admitted during cross-examination that he told a prosecutor that he did not believe the woman was aware she was participating in an illegal scheme.

William Barksdale, a mortgage broker already serving a sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, was testifying at the trial of Irving Fryar and Allene McGhee. The state Attorney General’s Office contends they were coconspirators with Barksdale in defrauded seven lending institutions in South Jersey and Philadelphia of more than $1.2 million in 2009.

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onJuly 31, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud on the web ,
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Beware of Fake Sales Transactions

Rachel Dollar —  July 31, 2015 — Leave a comment

  This scam is operating across the country and is not limited to properties in Lansing Michigan.  (It is also being perpetrated against potential renters who are “rented” homes that are not owned by the scammers.)

In the Craig’s List scams, a home buyer can generally protect themselves by depositing the earnest money with their own real estate agent or with an escrow company rather than handing money over to the scammers.  The fact that the scammers don’t actually own the property will be discovered during the title search that is conducted while the sales transaction is pending.

This is not the only scam that involves fake sales.  In another common scam, fake sellers actually forge quit claim deeds and ‘transfer’ the property to themselves.  Sometimes these scammers also rent the property from the real owners so that they can ‘show’ the property to potential buyers.

Looking at current ownership in these fake sales transactions may not be enough.  Home buyers and real estate professionals also need to look at the last transactions recorded against title to the property.  If the property has recently transferred by way of quit clam deed, a little more due diligence may be in order before handing over the earnest money deposit or purchasing the property. It is as easy as contacting the “prior” record title holder – who may not even be aware that their property has been transferred.  Quit claim transfers are not always fraudulent.  And fake transfer can be done by way of regular grant deeds.  We just see more fake transfers by quit claim.

In the Craig’s List scam, the fake sellers walk away with the earnest money deposit or down payment.  In a fake sales transaction, if it is not detected by the title company, the scammers walk away with the entire purchase price.

If a homeowner falls for one of these fake sales transactions and purchases a property that doesn’t actually belong to the seller and was transferred by way of a forged deed, the new homeowner’s only real recourse will be their title insurance policy.

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Mortgage Modification Representative Pleads Guilty

Rachel Dollar —  July 30, 2015 — Leave a comment

Jonathan Lyons, 53, a former sales representative at a company purporting to provide mortgage modification services, Rockville Center, New York, pled guilty in Manhattan federal court for his role in a multimillion-dollar scheme that victimized more than 500 financially struggling homeowners across the country.  Lyons, who was arrested in October 2013, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels.

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment and related Informations, the plea agreements, and statements made in court proceedings: Continue Reading…

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