Kenneth Sweetman, 34, Nutley, New Jersey, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme involving multiple properties in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Sweetman previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court: Continue Reading…
After a four-week jury trial, New York State Senator John Sampson was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, for one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements to federal agents.
The guilty verdicts follow evidence at trial and publicly filed documents establishing that, among other things, Sampson, as an attorney practicing in Brooklyn, New York embezzled funds he held in escrow from the sale of real estate properties. Concerned that his theft might be discovered by law enforcement, in 2006 Sampson asked an associate for $188,500 to replenish the stolen funds. In exchange, Sampson used his position as a Senator to assist the associate’s real estate business interests. Continue Reading…
Jennifer McTigue, 48, Honolulu, Hawaii pled guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering, as well as committing wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering. McTigue pled guilty in federal district court before Senior District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall a day after jury selection for her trial was to have commenced.
In connection with her guilty plea, McTigue, who is representing herself and identifies herself as a “private non-citizen American national” stated:
“I feel I must take responsibility for people being damaged and that’s why I’m here today to plead guilty.”
Documents filed by McTigue in the court case had caused the Judge to order that she undergo a competency evaluation.
Alberic Okou Agodio, 30, Bethesda, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, arising from a mortgage fraud scheme. He used the names of immigrants and students, along with false financial information, to obtain approximately $3.8 million in home mortgage loans. He bought approximately three dozen row houses in Baltimore, all of which are in default or foreclosure. Continue Reading…
Did former NFL star Irving Fryar and his mother conspire to defraud banks and a mortgage company of more than $1 million? Or were they the victims of a “con man” who was sent to federal prison for his role in the case?
Based on opening arguments Wednesday at the Burlington County Courthouse in Mount Holly, that is what jurors will consider during the trial, which is expected to last a few weeks.
Two men suspected of running a scam in which they took over and rented out abandoned properties are behind bars Wednesday after prosecutors lobbied a judge to raise their bonds, the Sun-Times is reporting.
Chicagoans Torrez Moore and David Farr were released on their own recognizance, with home monitoring, July 1 after allegedly living in and renting out over two dozen foreclosed homes in a scheme Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez described as “disturbing” and “bold and brazen.”
Not even a stint in a Kentucky prison cell could stop serial counterfeiter and forger Kenneth Hampton from engaging in one of Philadelphia’s oldest real estate scams, federal prosecutors said.
In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, Hampton, 54, was charged with recruiting three family members in a scheme to steal two West Philadelphia rowhouses by filing fraudulent deeds with the city’s Department of Records.
The Monroe County, Pennsylvania Office of the District Attorney is warning citizens of a scam targeting homebuyers with pending purchases in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
In this scam, dubbed the “Man in the Email” scam by the FBI, unwitting buyers are duped into wiring the closing costs and down payment to an out-of-state bank account when they receive closing instructions from their realtor or title company. In reality, the email was sent by someone who had hacked into the email account of the realtor or title agent, and the instructions are bogus – directing the homebuyer to wire the funds to a bank account under the control of the scammers.
Although this press release was local to Pennsylvania, this scam is happening across the country and being directed and all parties that wire funds into escrow accounts – homebuyers and lenders. Continue Reading…
When ex-Eagle Irving Fryar needed money in 2008 and 2009, a financial adviser now serving time in federal prison told him about a scheme they could use to defraud banks, New Jersey Deputy Attorney General John Nicodemo said in opening arguments at Fryar’s trial in Mount Holly on Wednesday.
By applying for multiple mortgage loans in quick succession, and using one property as collateral, the two men could obtain money that banks normally would not approve, Nicodemo told the jurors. “One bank will never know about the others, and you get a whole bunch of money using one property for all of the loans,” he said.
