Monday, April 14, 2008

2 Pennsylvanians Plead Guilty to Misrepresentation Charges

Aaron Thompson, 32, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Randy Carretta, 44, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to one count each of Participating in a Wire Fraud Conspiracy before United States District Court Judge Joy Flowers Conti and Chief United States District Court Judge Donetta Ambrose, respectively.

In connection with the guilty plea of Thompson, Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway advised the court that Leon Truskowski and Colleen Chiavetta operated a mortgage broker business, located in Pittsburgh’s West End, called People’s Home Mortgage that assisted borrowers in obtaining financing to purchase homes.  Thompson was employed by People’s Home Mortgage, and he, with the assistance of other members of the conspiracy, submitted loan applications on behalf of borrowers that contained material misrepresentations about the borrowers’ financial condition.  Thompson and his co-conspirators also submitted false documents in connection with the loan applications, including but not limited to, appraisals that inflated the true value of the properties, appraisals that represented that they were prepared by licensed appraisers when they were really prepared by unlicensed appraisers, and employment and income verification documents that misrepresented the borrowers’ employment status and overstated the borrowers’ income.  In addition, the conspirators arranged for the payments associated with the loan transactions to be distributed contrary to the representations to the lender about how the loan proceeds would be distributed, and they inflated sales prices so that the conspirators could obtain money at the real estate closings.

Thompson also participated in this scheme in that he acted as a buyer and borrower knowing that the loan applications contained misrepresentations and that many of the supporting documents submitted to the lending institutions were fraudulent.

In connection with the guilty plea of Carretta, Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway advised the Court that Jason Jester and Carretta operated Precision Mortgage, a Carnegie mortgage broker business that assisted borrowers in obtaining financing to purchase homes.

Jester and Carretta submitted loan applications and associated documents knowing that the loan applications contained fraudulent representations about the financial condition of the borrowers and that the documents were fraudulent.  The fraudulent documents included, among others, verifications of employment, verifications of deposit, appraisals, pay stubs, and W-2s.

Judge Conti scheduled sentencing for Thompson for September 12, 2008 and Judge Ambrose scheduled sentencing for Carretta for September 5, 2008.

The law provides for a total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both for both defendants.  Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentences imposed are based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the criminal history, if any, of the defendants.

mortgage fraud