Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Dentist And Assistant Sentenced For Mortgage Fraud
Terrance D. Stradford, 46, a.k.a Wayne Sellers, Staten Island, New York, and Christina Hachadoorian, 35, Burlington City, a.k.a. Christian Hachadoorian, C.L. Doorian and Crystal Doorian, a Staten Island, New York dentist and his former employee, were sentenced for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $1.36 million in mortgages and spending the proceeds on luxury items including the purchase of a 46-foot yacht, a North Carolina residence and a GMC Yukon Denali. Stradford was sentenced to ten years in prison, and Hachadorrian was senteced to six months, followed by six months house arrest.
In October, 2007, Stradford was convicted of all 24 counts by a jury in less than two hours of deliberation. Hachadoorian had previously plead guilty and testified against him at his trial.
As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, the 23-count Indictment charges Stradfrod and hachardoorian with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, three counts of wire fraud and 18 counts of money laundering. The Indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation serving notice that the United States will seek forfeiture of all property, both real and personal, derived from proceeds of the scheme.
The Indictment describes a scheme in which the defendants used fraudulent documents, made false statements, established fictitious companies and opened back accounts in the companies� names to fraudulently obtain mortgages secured by a property at 412-414 Commerce Lane, West Berlin, New Jersey. (the �Commerce Lane property�).
According to the Indictment, in October 1999, Stradford formed a limited liability company called 412-414 Commerce Lane, LLC (�412-414 LLC�). In forming the entity, Stradford named himself the sole owner and listed �C.L. Doorian� as a corporate agent. In December 1999, Stradford, acting through 412-414 LLC, purchased the Commerce Lane property for $337,500 with a first mortgage in the amount of $310,000 held by American Business Credit Inc. (the �ABC Mortgage�). In September 2002, Stradford encumbered the Commerce Lane property with a second mortgage in the amount of $244,756 (the � M.W. Mortgage�).
In June 2004, Stradford used the Commerce Lane property as collateral for a $500,000 mortgage loan from Quantum Corporate Funding, Ltd., (�Quantum�). In obtaining the loan, Stradford provided fraudulent documents to Quantum, including income tax returns containing a fake social security number and a commitment for title insurance which falsely indicated that there were no current mortgages on the Commerce Lane property, according to the indictment. According to the Indictment, Stradford and Hachadoorian spent the proceeds of the Quantum loan on themselves, which included the June 2004 purchase of a 1998 Maxum 46’ yacht using the aliases �Wayne Sellers� and �Christian Hachadoorian.�
In furtherance of their scheme, the defendants created a fictitious title company named Burlington Title Agency, LLC, and opened bank accounts in the names of Burlington Title Agency, LLC, A.B.C., LLC and Commonwealth Medical Supply, LLC, in July 2004.
In August 2004, Stradford used the Commerce Lane property as collateral for a $585,000 mortgage loan from Eastern Savings Bank (the �Eastern loan�). The proceeds of the loan were purportedly to be used for the refinancing of the ABC mortgage and the purchase of medical equipment from Commonwealth Medical Supply. According to the Indictment, the defendants provided fraudulent documents to Eastern Savings Bank, including title insurance commitment documents purportedly from Burlington Title Agency that falsely indicated the only mortgage on the Commerce Lane property was a mortgage held by American Business Company, when in fact, American Business Credit, Inc., was the actual issuer of the ABC mortgage and both the ABC mortgage and the M.W. mortgage remained as liens on the Commerce Lane property.
At closing, Eastern Savings Bank disbursed the loan proceeds to accounts in the names of Burlington Title Agency, LLC, A.B.C., LLC, and Commonwealth Medical Supply, LLC, which unbeknownst to Eastern Savings Bank, were controlled by the defendants. According to the Indictment, the defendants spent the proceeds of the Eastern loan on themselves, including the August 2004 purchase of a property in Belmont, N.C.
In September 2004, the defendants repeated the scheme to obtain a $275,000 mortgage loan from Asset Funding Group, LLC. At closing, the loan proceeds were wire-transferred into the Burlington Title Agency account. The Indictment alleges the defendants spent the funds on themselves, which included the purchase a 2005 GMC Yukon Denali.
The defendants are each charged in Count One of the Indictment, which alleges a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the aggregate loss to the victims or gain to the defendants. Counts Two through Four charge both defendants with wire fraud, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. Count five charges the defendants with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Counts Six through 23 charge both defendants with money laundering, which carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
mortgage fraud
A mortgage is a guarantee of a property to a lender (the one who provides the mortgage) as a security for what they called the mortgage loan. While mortgage itself is not considered a debt, it is because mortgage is the evidence of a debt. It is a transfer of an interest in land, from the owner to the mortgage lender, under the certain condition that this interest will and should be returned to the owner of the real estate when the terms of mortgage have already been completed or satisfied. It is same as saying that the mortgage is a security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower.
Claiming a mortgage short sale in California for example, is seen as the standard method and definitely perceived as the most affordable way of achieving lands by which individuals have the chance to purchase any residential or even commercial estate without the need to pay the full value of the land immediately.
Posted by on 07/22 at 09:10 AM
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Erie Area Mortgage Broker Gets Prison in Fraud Case
GoErie.com - Erie, PA
Shortly before receiving a nearly three-year federal prison sentence, former mortgage office manager Francis R. Conti told the judge he never meant to defraud any of the homeowners caught up in a widespread local mortgage-fraud scheme.
Three Former Portland-Area Mortgage Brokers Face Fraud Charges
OregonLive.com - Portland, OR
Joel D. Surprenant, Michael Duc Han and Benjamin Lucian Lucescu all were charged with one count of obtaining mortgage loans through materially false and fraudulent pretenses.
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Cleveland.com - Cleveland, OH
Two Shaker Heights residents recently pleaded guilty to charges involving a mortgage scheme with seven area houses and $3 million in fraudulent loans.
Feds File Charges in Five Mortgage Fraud Cases
Chicago Breaking News - Tribune - Chicago, IL
Federal charges were filed today against 37 people and four companies in five separate mortgage fraud cases.
Feds Fighting Back
Contra Costa Times - Walnut Creek, CA
Mortgage fraud has increased so dramatically in the San Joaquin Valley that a task force of federal, state and local agencies has been formed to fight back.
Private Investigator Sees Rise in Mortgage Fraud Due to Economy
PR Web - Ferndale, WA
In the past 12 months his firm has been retained to conduct over 300 mortgage fraud investigations, a 100% increase from 2007.
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WJBF-TV - Augusta, GA
He is also accused of defrauding three banks in obtaining loans for seven different properties in Columbia and Richmond Counties.
Cuomo Subpoenas Loan Modification Companies
New York Times - United States
“The entire industry is a scam, in my opinion,” Mr. Cuomo said Tuesday. “These are services that homeowners don’t need to pay for in the first place.”
Defendant Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud Relating to Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Imperial Valley News - Holtville, CA
Scavitti admitted that between 2003 and August 2008 he unlawfully diverted mortgage funds that were wire transferred into his client office account to his own personal benefit, resulting in losses in excess of $2.5 million.
Fed Drug Report: Double Trouble for Metro Chicago
ABC7Chicago.com - IL
...Chicago street gang members run a network of legitimate businesses and have engineered mortgage fraud schemes, both to launder drug proceeds...
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Trial coverage provided by Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty.
Update - US v. F. Jeffrey Miller, et al.
Miller II: Judge Julie Robinson has ruled in favor of the defense motion granting a continuance for sentencing of the 3 convicted defendants: F. Jeffrey Miller, Steve Vanatta and Hallie Irvin. The three will now be sentenced after ruling on post trial motions set for August 10, 2009.
Vanatta has been in custody for over 2 years. Vanetta filed a motion for his release pending sentencing. That motion was denied.
Miller remains free pending his sentencing. He has hired a new attorney who filed a motion to delay Miller's sentencing. In one post trial motion, the defense argues as to what assets are subject to seizure.
Defendant Todd Earnshaw is a Kansas City real estate Broker (and brother in law of Miller). Earnshaw has been indicted in what is commonly referred to as Miller I. A trial date for that matter has been set for January, 2010 in Topeka, Kansas.
The Government filed a motion to revoke Earnshaw's bond and remand him to custody while he awaits trial after learning that he allegedly committed the state crimes of Driving Under the Influence, Handicap Parking Violation and Failure to Control Speed to Avoid a Collision while on pretrial release. Notwithstanding finding that probable cause existed to believe that Earnshaw committed the aforementioned state crimes, Judge Robinson denied the motion, but ordered several strict conditions that Earnshaw must follow pending his trial.
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