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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Donald L. Jones, a/k/a “Don Jones,” 61, Grapevine, Texas was sentenced before U. S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 51 months in federal prison. Jones was also ordered to pay $2,710,834.64 in restitution. Jones pled guilty in July to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Co-defendant Robert Patterson, Jr., a/k/a Bob Patterson, 55, Dallas, Texas was also sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $517,954.46 in restitution. Patterson pled guilty in July to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, Donald Jones and Robert Patterson, along with six other defendants were named in a 17-count indictment charging each of them with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, and other offenses related to a mortgage fraud scheme involving forty properties and more than seventy loans.
Co-defendant Joseph B. Jackson, Sr., a/k/a “Joseph Jackson,” 63, Irving, Texas, is scheduled for sentencing on November 17, 2008. Jackson pled guilty in August 2008 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Donald L. Jones and Joseph Jackson represented themselves as real estate investors who owned and operated Affordable Homebuilders and the YIN Group in Irving, Texas.
Co-defendant Donald Matthew Jones, a/k/a “Mat Jones,” 35, Maui, Hawaii, is also scheduled for sentencing on November 17, 2008. Jones pled guilty in August 2008 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was an employee of Affordable Homebuilders and also owned and operated home healthcare centers under the names of Private Home Health Care and Brain and Spinal Cord Injury LLC.
Co-defendant Daniel J. Sattizahn, 29, Plano, Texas, was sentenced on September 15, 2008 to 24 months in federal prison and order to pay $2,095,136.41 in restitution. Sattizahn pled guilty in January 2008 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Co-defendant Catherine L. Dike, a/k/a “Cathy Dike,” and “Cathy Carter,” 59, Plano, Texas, was an escrow officer. Dike was sentenced in November 2007 to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,995,968.83 in restitution. Dike pled guilty in July 2007 to false acknowledgment of appearance or oath in relation to closing documents.
Co-defendant William Barnes, 59, Desoto, Texas, who owned BCT Landscaping, pled guilty October 23, 2008 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Co-defendant Foday S. Fofanah, 38, Waxahachie, Texas, is scheduled for sentencing on December 15, 2008. Fofanah pled guilty in September 2008 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Barnes and Fofanah recruited straw borrowers.
The defendants ran a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders and financial institutions. As part of that scheme, they located single family residences in and around the Dallas, Texas area that were offered for sale, recruited straw borrowers to purchase the targeted single-family residences, inflated the sales prices of the targeted residences to an amount greater than the fair market value of the residences; prepared and submitted false and fraudulent loan applications in the name of straw purchasers to secure mortgage loans for the targeted residences in amounts substantially greater than the fair market value, obtained substantially inflated loans from mortgage lenders and financial institutions based on false and fraudulent misrepresentations about repairs that were to be made on the targeted residences, paid the original owners of the residences, and distributed the remaining fraudulently-obtained proceeds among themselves.
The properties used in the scheme were located in Irving, Texas, on Broadmoor Lane and Glenbrook Drive; in Arlington, Texas, on Shadow Ridge, Wimbledon, Racquet Club Drive, and Woodsong Trail; in Sherman, Texas, on Preston Drive and Post Oak Drive; and in Rowlett, Texas, on Beech Street and Orchid Lane. The loans on the properties have gone into default. The total amount of fraud attributed to these defendants is estimated to be approximately $14 million.
U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas praised the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. Attorney Roper also thanked the Plano, Waxahachie, Desoto, Grapevine and Irving, Texas Police Departments for their participation in the arrests. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Marcus Busch and Kim McCabe.
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.
Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors On Line WSJ.Com
A little-noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old.
Oregon to Help Homeowners Prevent Foreclosures CBS State
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.
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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