Mortgage Fraud Blog is the premier website for news and information on mortgage fraud and real estate fraud throughout the United States.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of Smith Dollar, PC, is licensed to practice law in California and maintains offices in Santa Rosa, California. Email Ms. Dollar
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Jose Serrano, 45, Stockton, California, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $219,000 in restitution to Washington Mutual Bank in connection with his role in a mortgage fraud scheme involving the purchase of numerous residential properties in the Stockton, California area between 2003 and 2005.
According to Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Stegman, who prosecuted the case, the investigation has also resulted in charges against other defendants, including Iftikhar Ahmad, 37, Stockton, California, Manpreet Singh, 25, Manteca, California, John Ngo, 28, Dublin, California, William Bridge, 42, San Francisco, California, and Paul Bridge, 43, Davis, California. Each of the above-named defendants has entered guilty pleas to various charges and each awaits sentencing.
Another defendant, Joel Blanford, 40, San Ramon, California, has been charged and awaits trial.
This prosecution is the result of an extensive investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation.
Anybody know if Jose, Iftikhar, or Manpreet were legally present in the US when these crimes were commissioned?
If they are not citizens, but here has properly documented immigrants, does anybody know if their respective sponsors are being pursued for the $219K restitution owed to the tax payer supported WaMu?
Has the department of Homeland Security been advised of their shenanigans?
Posted by on 11/05 at 07:15 AM
Your English is horrible. Are you here legally? The problem is not with illegal aliens or noncitizens. The problem is with greedy, unscrupulous individuals.
Posted by on 11/05 at 06:51 PM
Years and years of mortgage fraud analysis and research reveals a disproportionately high number of non citizens as mortgage fraud perpetrators. Additionally, nearly fifteen years ago I managed fraudulent EPD repurchase recovery for one of the GSE’s and not less than 70% of the cases were perpetrated by non US born fraudsters.
Posted by on 11/05 at 07:13 PM
Year and years of working in the mortgage industry, and years of reading this blog, indicate to me that ethnicity or national origin don’t have much to do with the tendency to commit crimes. Read the names of the accused in this blog. Look at those leading big banks and now in jail or about to be indicted. Almost all the agents I work with are foreign born US citizens, and they are very honest. No lawsuits, and very successful EVEN NOW. I have seen other US born agents, and they were thieves in $1000 suits. I have seen other brokers where most agents were a mixture of ethnicities, and I would not let my worst enemy do business there (broker had his license revoked). Remember, statistics are a result of the sampling group that you use. Why do think pollsters make so much $$$ and have to be very careful about how they conduct their sampling?
Posted by on 11/06 at 09:11 PM
You are correct about the sampling selection parameters impacting the results. The samples I was referring too were the loans where the borrower(s) stopped making payments during the first 12 months following loan origination. These loans were considered to be EPD’s (early payment defaults). If we had sampled randomly selected loans from the general loan population, we would not have had enough fraudulent EPD’s reviewed to be statistically meaningful sample.
I am presently analyzing one of the top ten markets for mortgage foreclosures which is located in SW Florida. For example, in the 33904 zip code, Hispanics only represent 11% of the total population but of the defaulted mortgages that were originated as purchase money mortgages at fraudulently inflated purchase prices, the defaulted borrowers have Hispanic surnames in nearly 80% of the 360 cases reviewed to date. The disparity is so large, there IS obviously a predisposition for some cultures or ethnic groups to perpetrate mortgage fraud for profit.
Posted by on 11/06 at 09:46 PM
Sounds to me like their brokers were the ones that inflated prices, manufactured income docs, etc. Remember Ameriquest? I believe they were big on targeting the uneducated. Who owned Ameriquest? A future U.S. ambassador. Do you think he didn’t know what was happening? What about CountryWide, the Dorean (sp?) group?
Failed Mortgage Firm Trustee Allowed $50,000 in Fees Union Leader
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge J. Michael Deasy will approve $50,000 in legal fees for the trustee of failed mortgage brokerage businesses Financial Resources Mortgage Inc. and CL&M Inc.
Bend Oregon Event to Help Homeowners Prevent Foreclosures Oregon.Gov
As part of an ongoing effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, state agencies are organizing a foreclosure-prevention event in Bend on Saturday, March 27, 2010.
Shelbyville Man Gets 2-Year Sentence For Loan Fraud Chattanoogan.Com
Prosecutor Gary Humble said the lost was approximately $2.3 million in the mortgage fraud involving hundreds of homes in the Shelbyville area.
Lend America, VP Ashley Banned from FHA Housing Wire
Michael Ashley, the embattled former vice president of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgage originator Lend America, and the company he worked for, were permanently banned from doing business in the industry last week.
Countrywide Tries to Pin Blame on Insurer Court House News
Countrywide Home Loans demands $111 million from Triad Guaranty Insurance, claiming Triad is trying to blame mortgage lenders for the insurer's role in the housing bubble and collapse.
Investors Say They Were Swindled in Property Scheme Fox 13 Now
Utah Division of Consumer Protection is joining forces with a few investors who claim they have been cheated by an agency called "Utah Mini Ranches.
Greenfield Man Accused of Housing Scam The Republic
A former real estate agent conned at least eight people by renting them properties actually owned by a federal agency and then running off with their deposits, prosecutors said.
Appraisal Institute Opposes Obama Administration's Plan for Homeowner 'Short Sales' PR News Wire
Citing concerns about increased mortgage fraud, four organizations representing more than 35,000 real estate appraisers today voiced their opposition to changes to an Obama administration program that will encourage "short sales" of homes.
Ownership Rights to Get Another Look TBO.Com
State lawmakers may beef up protections of property owners' rights by rewriting a law this spring that is at the center of a case of alleged fraud in Pasco County.
Thursday, February 18, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Continued Testimony
As reported by Anne Mitchell, who viewed the trial:
Angela Parenza worked for Jeff Miller as the office manager for 7 or 8 years beginning in 1998. Parenza was indicted along with Miller and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering. Parenza testified that Miller or his contractors allegedly preferred to build all the...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Coverage Continued - Witness Testimony
Steve Middleton Testimony - Coverage Provided by Anne Mitchell
The Government continued in its cross examination of Steve Middleton. He was shown several HUD-1 statements involving sales of homes located in Overland Park, KS, and Olathe, KS. The HUD statements each allegedly showed line items of payments to (James) Moser & Associates, LLC's...
Monday, February 01, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Coverage - Continued Witness Examination
According to Anne Mitchell, who is present in court for the trial:
Next Witness: Kelly Sanford
Kelly Sanford of the Federal Reserve was a short witness for the Government. Sanford manages electronic payments between banks and member financial institutions. He was shown copies of wire transfers and asked whether they coincided with the counts in...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial - Prosecution Witnesses Continued
According to Anne Mitchell, who is viewing the trial:
January 13, 2010
Witness: Rick Hayes
Rick Hayes testified that on the day that he closed on his Miller Enterprise home, he received a phone call from the Kansas Banking Commission informing him that his loan was fraudulent. After the Hayes responded to a classified ad, they met with John...
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The information and notices contained on Mortgage Fraud Blog are intended to summarize recent developments in mortgage fraud cases and mortgage banking matters nationwide. The posts on this site are presented as general research and information and are expressly not intended, and should not be regarded, as legal advice. Much of the information on this site concerns allegations made in civil lawsuits and in criminal indictments. All persons are presumed innocent until convicted of a crime. Readers who have particular questions about mortgage banking, mortgage fraud matters or who believe they require legal counsel should seek the advice of an attorney. The creators, editors and sponsors of Mortgage Fraud Blog do not intend to create a confidential relationship or an attorney-client relationship by communication via or arising from this site.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of 
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