Mortgage Fraud
Monday, May 12, 2008
Maryland Man Heads To Prison For Defrauding Lenders
David Lincoln, 38, Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for wire fraud arising from a mortgage fraud scheme in Maryland and Florida. As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, Lincoln and co-defendant Rachel Donegan, an attorney, worked at 1st Metropolitan Mortgage and Guilford Title and Escrow in Baltimore, preparing mortgage applications and assisting in mortgage closings. According to their plea agreements, from January 2005 to December 2006, Donegan and Lincoln participated with Yolanda Crawley and Read More...
Husband And Wife Convicted For Real Estate Fraud
Patricia Omondi, 39, and her husband Boureima Sanfo, 47, both of Woodbridge, Virginia, were convicted by a federal jury on eight counts of interstate transportation of property obtained by fraud, three counts of money laundering and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with a scheme to defraud residential lot buyers. As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog and according to testimony presented during the three week trial, Omondi was the president of Raycha Homes, also known as Construction Consulting and Management (CCM), a home builder located on Old …
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Friday, May 09, 2008
Loan Originator Sentenced For Straw Buyer Scheme
Marlene Dinnall a/k/a Marlene Henry, Marlene Angela Hall, and Marlene Morris, 48, Miramar, Florida was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment by United States District Court Judge James I. Cohn. Dinnall was sentenced for her participation on a mortgage and mail and wire fraud scheme that resulted in approximately $1.8 million in fraudulently obtained mortgage loans. At sentencing, the defendant was also ordered to pay restitution to National City Mortgage Company, a lender that suffered actual loss in this case. ASs previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, Dinnall was a mortgage loan originator …
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Idaho Dept of Finance Issues Shuts Down Bait And Switch Scheme
Assurity Financial Services, LLC, was issued an Order to Cease and Desist by the Idaho Department of Finance for sending mailers to Idaho residents entitled “Refund Notice,” suggesting that recipients’ current adjustable-rate mortgage may have been the subject of errors in principal and interest calculations. The mailer indicates that “A Refund Audit Specialist will be able to help you determine your correct principal and interest payment and assist you in collecting any refund that you may be legally entitled to.” In fine print at the bottom of the document, the homeowner is informed that their consultation may include a …
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
Virigina Man Pleads Guilty To Mortgage Fraud
John Andreas Tsiaoushis, 40, Alexandria, Virginia, pled guilty to a two-count information charging him with mail fraud affecting a financial institution and giving false testimony at a hearing in the United States Bankruptcy Court. Tsiaoushis faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, 5 years supervised release, and a fine of approximately $7,600,000 when he is sentenced on July 18, 2008. As part of the guilty plea, Tsiaoushis agreed to the entry of a Restitution Order. The government estimates the amount of restitution due to be approximately $3,841,189.48. Tsiaoushis admitted to operating a …
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New Yorkers Net 2 Years For Loan Misreps
Matthew J. Kupic, 38, and Francis Thomas Disonell, 38, both of Clifton Park, New York, were sentenced before the Honorable Gary L. Sharpe in United States District Court in Albany, N.Y., for their participation in a mortgage and tax fraud scheme. Both defendants were sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 24 months. Judge Sharpe further ordered the defendants to pay restitution in the amount of $887,311.57 to the victim banks, and ordered that each defendant forfeit over $600,000 in the fraudulent mortgage proceeds that they obtained from the mortgage fraud scheme. Nearly a year ago, …
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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
2 Guilty Pleas In Straw Buyer Scheme
Aryeh Schottenstein, 34, Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering, and Shawn A. Griffin, 38, also of Columbus, Ohio, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Schottenstein and Griffin were indicted along with Donald F. Green, Jeffrey Lieberman and George “Terry” Jordan for a mortgage fraud scheme in central Ohio in 2003 and 2004. According to statements of facts filed with Schottenstein‘s and Griffin‘s pleas, Read More...
Monday, May 05, 2008
Woman Sentenced To 2 Years For Mortgage Fraud
Yolanda Crawley, 59, West Palm Beach, Florida was sentenced to two years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for wire fraud arising from a mortgage fraud scheme. Judge Motz also ordered Crawley to pay restitution of $200,000. According to her guilty plea, from January 2005, continuing until December 2006, Crawley worked with David Lincoln, Rachel Donegan, and her son, Shawn Green to submit mortgage applications containing false representations about her income and employment, allowing her to secure loans for property at 10740 Versailles Boulevard, Wellington, Florida (valued …
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2 Plead Guilty In Scheme To Defraud Lenders
Kolawole Aminu, 45, a Nigerian national, pleaded guilty to conspiring to make a false statement in connection with a scheme to defraud a mortgage lender. Oyekunle Ikudayisi, 39, White Plains, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the same charge on April 23, 2008. According to court documents (their plea agreements are currently sealed), Aminu and Ikudayisi conspired with others to purchase properties from a company owned by a co-conspirator. Aminu and Ikudayisi obtained mortgage loans for the properties in their own names, using their good credit histories. The co-conspirator, however, was responsible for making …
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Title Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Misreps
Steven C. Gittinger, 50, Cincinnati, Ohio, pleaded guilty in United States District Court to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of money laundering for his participation in a mortgage fraud scheme. According to a statement of facts filed with his guilty plea, Gittinger was a principal of Classic Title Agency, Inc. and helped close real estate sales. Between June 2003 and 2005, Gittinger received business and made money for performing closings of real estate sales. In 2003, Gittinger made various fraudulent representations on closing documents in which misrepresentations …
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Friday, May 02, 2008
4 Indicted In Multi Million Dollar Fraud Scheme
Dominick Devito and Robert Didonato were charged in a superceding indictment with participating in a wide-ranging scheme to commit mortgage fraud, and Devito, Didonato, John Liscio, and Louis Cordasco, Jr. were charged with participating in an associated insurance fraud scheme. Devito is also charged with obstruction of justice. According to the superseding Indictment filed in Manhattan federal court: From January 2002 through November 2004, Devito was the leader of a fraudulent real estate investment scheme, which had as its primary objective the purchase of multimillion-dollar residential properties in various communities in Read More...
FinCEN Report Warns of Methods and Trends in Residential Real Estate Industry
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today released the latest in a series of reports, which are based upon analysis of suspicious activity reports (SARs) provided by the financial industry. Today’s report, Suspected Money Laundering in the Residential Real Estate Industry: An Assessment Based Upon Suspicious Activity Report Filing Analysis identifies several transactional typologies and associated illicit activities that may be perpetrated by individuals or groups seeking to launder funds via residential property transactions. This study confirms an increase in the number of SARs indicating suspected money laundering in the industry which tracks closely with the past expansion …
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Thursday, May 01, 2008
Women Arrested For Stealing Patient Identity To Obtain Loan
Erica Kaprice Pollard, 37, Colton, California, was arrested at the Kaiser Permanente Riverside Medical Center, where she was employed as a licensed vocational nurse. Pollard used her position to access the confidential medical records of a 72-year old cancer victim. The information was provided to another suspect identified as Gwendolyn Monique Steele, 39, Fontana, California, who applied for a cash out mortgage refinance loan in the amount of $165,000.00, against the victim’s property located in the city of San Bernardino, California. Steele has been arrested and charged in this case. A second suspect …
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Californian Sentenced For Real Estate Fraud
Luetta Kaye Jacobsen, 61, Cherry Valley, California, was sentenced in St. Paul, Minnsetoa, to 27 months in prison for defrauding her real estate clients. United States District Judge Richard Kyle also sentenced Jacobsen to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay at least $804,035.14 in restitution. Jacobsen worked as a real estate broker in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and was an independent franchisee of the Coldwell Banker real estate company. She worked with U.S. citizens who were interested in acquiring an interest in vacation or retirement properties in Read More...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Fraudulent Deed Scheme Equals Prison
Silvestre Cortez, 45, Fontana, California, was sentenced to a felony charge connected to a fraudulent real estate deed. Cortez appeared in San Bernardino County Fontana Superior Court and was sentenced to sixteen (16) months in prison for forgery as part of a plea agreement. He will be placed on parole for approximately 3-4 years when released from custody. Additionally, Cortez was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,000 to the San Bernardino County Recorder’s Office. In 1997, Cortez borrowed $115,000 from the victim for the purchase of her Rialto, California property. …
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