Rachel Dollar is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles fraud recovery litigation for lenders and secondary market investors nationwide. She is a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is licensed to practice law in California and maintains offices in Santa Rosa, California. Email Ms. Dollar

Mortgage Fraud Blog is co-sponsored by Interthinx the leading provider of fraud services and solutions for the mortgage industry.



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Recent Posts

- Ohio Mortgage Fraudster Sentenced To 20 Months
- Missouri Man Pleads Guilty To Loan And Appraisal Misreps
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- Leader Of $10M Mortgage Fraud Scheme Gets 8 Years

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Defendant Receives 60 Months in Prison for Mortgage Fraud

Ramzy Moumneh, a/k/a Ramsey Moumneh was sentenced to 60 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release thereafter and must pay $94,088 in restitution.  Moumneh was found guilty along with four of his co-defendants stemming from an indictment alleging a foreclosure rescue scheme.

As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, according to the evidence presented at trial and court documents the defendants targeted homeowners located throughout Central and South Florida who were about to lose their homes through foreclosure. The homeowners were told that First Hanover Mortgage Corp., a company owned and controlled by the Moumneh brothers, could help them avoid the foreclosure and keep their homes at no cost to them.

Rather than helping the homeowners, the homeowners were duped into selling their homes to straw buyers who were recruited by the defendants. This was done under the pretext that the homeowners could buy their homes back after making 12 monthly lease payments.

The defendants recruited straw buyers and then arranged for the sale of the homeowners’ homes to the straw buyers. They arranged for new mortgages that exceeded the amount of the mortgages the homeowners originally had against the properties. The defendants prepared documents and papers associated with the straw buyers’ purchase of the properties.  The loan documents contained false representations that the straw buyers intended to use the properties as their primary residences. The closings of the transactions were conducted so that the straw buyers did not have to produce any funds at closing.

Homeowners were given documents to sign, including deeds, without having a chance to read and review and without being provided copies. The defendants also forged homeowners’ signatures on documents.

Pursuant to a document entitled “Demand Pay Off Statement”, after paying off the existing mortgage loan, the excess funds remaining from the new loan were paid to Properties Management Corporation and Maxx Financial, Inc., entities owned and controlled by the Moumnehs and Chuong Dam, respectively. The Demand Pay Off Statement, according to court documents, was a sham document created by the defendants and sent to either Voiklis, Brothers, or Junge, who were the closing agents for each of the home sales. The Demand Pay Off Statement was a demand for payment of a non-existent lien against the homeowner and in favor of Properties Management Corporation or Maxx Financial, Inc.

Without the knowledge or consent of the homeowners, more than $2 million of homeowners’ equity was siphoned off and distributed to the defendants.

   

Posted by Staff Reporter on 09/20/07 at 05:00 AM
Mortgage FraudFlorida • Total comments: (3) (0) Trackbacks
  1. If these people got over 2 million with mortgage fraud, why do they only have to pay back 98,000? What happened to the poor people that lots their homes?

    Posted by  on  09/26  at  07:09 AM
  2. Very interesting!

    Posted by  on  10/01  at  11:31 AM
  3. THAT’S JUST IT GENIOUS...RESTITUTION WAS ONLY $94,088 B/C THAT WAS THE ONLY LOSS!! JUDGE SAID IT HIMSELF IN COURT!!

    ***READ THE TRANSCRIPTS PEOPLE***

    HE ALSO SAID THE HOMEOWNERS WERE NOT VICTIMS...REASON WHY 2 MIL WASN’T INCL IN RESTITUTION. JUDGE SAID, “THOSE HOMEOWNERS KNEW WHAT THEY WERE SIGNING AND KNEW THEY WERE SELLING THEIR HOMES. THEY WOULD’VE LOST THEM ANYWAY.”
    MANY, MANY COUNTS WERE THROWN OUT...ONE BIG BOGUS INDICTMENT!

    ...WHAT HAPPENED TO THE POOR PEOPLE THAT LOST THEIR HOMES??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? THEY HAD THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO GET THEM BACK BUT CHOSE TO NOT PAY THEIR RENT/LEASE PAYMENT & WORK THE SYSTEM FOR AS LONG AS THEY COULD, NOT PAY AND LIVE RENT FREE...THEN, HAVE THE AUDACITY TO STAND IN OPEN COURT SAYING “I’M HERE TO SEE WHAT THE GOV’T CAN DO FOR ME. I JUST WANT MY HOUSE BACK.” BASICALLY ADMITTING THEY’RE WILLING TO LIE FOR THE GOVT, AS WAS PROVEN ON THE STAND BY 5-6 GOV’T WITNESSES. WHAT ABOUT THE GUY WHO ADMITTED...100% ADMITTED...IN OPEN COURT HE LIES WHEN HE’S NERVOUS, THAT OF COURSE WAS AFTER HE GOT CAUGHT IN A LIE...IN COURT...ON THE STAND. WHAT ABOUT THE LADY WHO BEGAN CRYING AFTER THE DEFENSE PRESENTED EVIDENCE THAT SHE DID SIGN SOMETHING SHE DENIED, THEN ADMITTED, “YES, I DID SIGN THAT. THAT IS MY SIGNATURE.” ONLY AFTER, SWEARING SHE DID NOT SIGN IT!! WTF?

    YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO CLUE WTF YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!!

    THESE DEFENDANTS MAY HAVE MADE MISTAKES, WITHOUT INTENT, VERY IMPORTANT YOU UNDERSTAND WITHOUT INTENT, BUT THEY MOST SURELY DID NOT TAKE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM POOR HOMEOWNERS.
    READ THE TRANSCRIPTS AND SEE FOR YOURSELF IN BLACK AND WHITE PEOPLE WHAT THE JUDGE SAID IN SENTENCING..."THESE HOMEOWNERS WERE NOT VICTIMS THEREFORE THERE IS NO LOSS.” PLAIN AND SIMPLE. THIS WAS A WASTED CASE...WASTED TIME & MONEY SPENT BY THE GOV’T...THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR CHASING SOMETHING THAT NEVER WAS.

    Posted by  on  03/04  at  12:58 PM

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Previous Articles

TRIAL COVERAGE

Trial coverage provided by Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty.

U.S. v. Miller, et al.

Thursday, December, 18, 2008

Verdict:

F. Jeffrey Miller Guilty of Conspiracy and Money Laundering

Steven Vanatta Guilty of Conspiracy , Money Laundering and Bank Fraud

Hallie Irvin Guilty of Conspiracy , Money Laundering and Bank Fraud

Sandra Jo Harris Not guilty- all counts



More Trial Coverage

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© Copyright 2004-2007 Rachel M. Dollar

Legal Disclaimer.
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.

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