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

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Recent Posts

- Mortgage Fraud Scheme Leads to Prison Term for Houston Man
- Loan Officer Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison for Mortgage Fraud
- Phoenix Mortgage Broker Who Defrauded Seniors Gets Prison Term
- Jeffrey Miller Trial Begins in Topeka, Kansas
- Man Sentenced To 22 Years For Defrauding Church, Among Others
- 2 Indicted In Major Mortgage Fraud Scheme
- Mortgage Broker Sentenced to 12 Months Home Confinement
- 2 Guilty Convictions In NY Foreclosure Rescue Scam
- Guilty Plea In Multi-Million Dollar Mortgage Fraud And Telemarketing Schemes
- Fairfax Man Pleads Guilty in $33 Million Mortgage Fraud Case

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

DreamLife Financial CEO Pleads Guilty in $7M Real Estate Fraud Scheme

Tony J. Daniloo, 32, Turlock, California, the former President and CEO of DreamLife Financial, a Modesto, California real-estate brokerage company, pleaded guilty to 122 charges of fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud homeowners and lenders of millions of dollars in cash.  Daniloo was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 31, 2006 and charged with 41 counts of wire fraud; four counts of mail fraud; and 77 counts of money laundering.

Todays guilty plea demonstrates that federal law enforcement will work to hold accountable those who would enrich themselves through real-estate fraud at the expense of innocent homeowners, United States Attorney Kevin V. Ryan said.  Fraud in real-estate financing can deprive homeowners of their life savings.  The victims in this matter were defrauded of millions of dollars, and I am pleased that the defendant is accepting full responsibility for the fraud scheme that he perpetrated.

In pleading guilty, Daniloo admitted in open court that he defrauded real-estate lenders and clients in the East Bay and the central California valley of millions of dollars in cash that had been intended for the lenders and clients.  Pursuant to a plea agreement, Daniloo pleaded guilty to all 122 counts charged in the indictment.  Daniloo further admitted in the plea agreement that the loss amount for his fraud scheme was between $2.5 million and $7 million; that he derived more than $1 million in receipts from financial institutions; that he abused a position of trust; and that he served of an organizer or leader in a criminal activity.

From 2000 to 2002, Daniloo served as manager of the Dublin, California branch office of Residential Credit Corporation, a mortgage brokerage company based in Westminster, California. Daniloo admitted that while employed at Residential Credit Corporation, he created a scheme to defraud lenders by falsely claiming that liens existed on borrowers properties, duping lenders into funding these phony liens instead of the debts that lenders required be paid.  Daniloo then fraudulently paid himself commissions out of this extra cash.

In 2003, Daniloo co-founded DreamLife Financial, which maintained headquarters in Modesto, California and as many as seven branch offices.  Daniloo served as President and CEO of DreamLife Financial until it closed in December 2004.  Daniloo admitted in his guilty plea that he defrauded lenders and clients by using phony documentation to cause large amounts of cashcash that had been intended to extinguish his clients former mortgagesto be deposited instead into his personal bank accounts for his personal use.  This fraud scheme resulted in many of DreamLifes clients unwittingly ending up with two mortgages, not one.

In total, according to publicly-filed documents, Daniloo defrauded homeowners of nearly $7 million in cash that the victim homeowners had intended be used for their own cash needs.

Finally, Daniloo admitted to laundering his criminal proceeds by making numerous lulling payments to victim homeowners, as well as spending massive amounts of stolen money to garner publicity for DreamLife.  For example, according to the indictment, Daniloo made a $1 million pledge to the athletic department at California State University at Stanislaus, in exchange for the university renaming its athletic arena DreamLife Arena. In 2004, DreamLife was a finalist for naming rights of the San Francisco 49ers football stadium at Candlestick Point.

Daniloo remains in federal custody at North County Jail in Oakland, California.  His sentencing is scheduled for March 20, 2007.  The maximum statutory penalty for each count in the indictment is 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, and restitution. 

Roger L. Wirth, Special Agent In Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation, said: Mortgage fraud is a crime with many victims, including unsuspecting homeowners and lending institutions, who suffer significant losses while the perpetrators such as Mr. Daniloo pocket the proceeds for their personal benefit. IRS-CI is proud to be a part of the great team effort in this investigation and we will continue to contribute our financial expertise to help unravel complex financial crimes and money laundering schemes.

Jean Mitchell, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Services San Francisco field office, said: This is another example of federal and state law enforcement working in a collaborative effort to stop the defrauding of innocent victims.  In this era of complex criminal trends, law enforcement needs to pool its resources and expertise to combat crime.

   

Posted by Rachel Dollar on 12/06/06 at 02:07 AM
Mortgage FraudCalifornia • Total comments: (1) (0) Trackbacks
  1. I was employed with Dreamlife Financial, and I was given a check that was not cashable.  It was for loans that had supposedly closed.  I still have the check I was given.  Will I ever get paid the salary plus commissions owed?

    Sincerely,

    Phil Alfonso 209-430-6754

    Posted by  on  12/31  at  09:45 PM

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TRIAL COVERAGE

Trial coverage provided by Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty.

 

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Synopsis of Day 2, Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Seating the Jury: The jury selection process was the order of business in day 2 of the USA v. Miller, et al. Court began at 1:00 p.m. The jurors had filled out a questionaire the previous day. The 56 person pool was narrowed to 42 people whose names were called by the court clerk. Of the initial 42 potential jurors, 27 are women, 15 are men. The remaining 14 sat in the observation area with me. The side of the courtroom is divided by an aisle. The Government is to the left of the aisle, along with the jury box. The defendants are on the right side of the aisle. The choice of which side to sit on can be assumed as 'support' of one side or the other. When the jury pool returned from a break, they all filled the left side of the observation area (where I sat) and almost begrudgingly filled the right side. For the better part of the afternoon, Judge Julie Robinson questioned the jurors about whether they had served on a jury before (including any civil matters against banks. Interestingly, this was the only question in which none of the potential jurors raised their hand), their prior criminal or civil history, among other things. Many of the jurors had previous jury experience. None had been forepersons on those juries. On a few occasions, Judge Robinson excused a juror due to answers given, such as financial hardship over the course of the trial from loss of income. One juror explained that he had a close relationship with Court prosecutors due to his sitting through a murder trial of his nephew. He was unsure whether he could be impartial. When the judge would excuse a juror, the clerk would then call the next name of the 14 remaining jury pool members. The 42 were then given a sheet and asked to stand and tell the Court about their education, job, marital and family status, hobbies, favorite TV shows, military history, and what clubs they belonged to. This took the longest part of the day as some of the members spoke at length. Mr. Vanatta remains in custody. He enters and leaves the courtroom with law enforcement officers. The two officers sit 3 feet away from Vanatta during the court proceedings. Mr. Vanatta clearly struggles to keep up with reviewing jury questionaires unlike the other defendants who are free pending the outcome of this trial. Hallie Irvin sits across from Mr. Vanatta. They continue to chat and exchange notes throughout the day. Samantha Harris has no conversation with her tablemate, F. Jeffrey Miller. Harris's attorney sits between the two. I am unsure whether the jurors have yet to identify Miller. He is better dressed than his lawyers and appears to be an attorney. There is a jury consultant in the court room. Aside from myself, he was the only non-jury pool member in the observation area of the courtroom. One of Miller's attorneys', Mr. Bradshaw, appears to be bothered by my presence in the courtroom. On Monday, he approached me in the courtroom. I told him I was simply there to observe the trial. On Tuesday, at one point Mr. Bradshaw 'squared his chair' towards me. Court is not in session today, Wednesday, November 19th. On Thursday, court will reconvene at 9 am. The attorneys will be allowed to ask further questions of the 42. In case of conflict, the remaining 14 are required to return to court as well. Then, the jury members will be selected. The opening statements are much anticipated. Judge Robinson says they will begin mid-morning on Thursday. -article by field reporter, Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty

More Trial Coverage

Today's News

Some Sources require Registration.

 

Suthers Cracks Down On Mortgage Fraud
Rocky Mountain News - Denver, CO
Suther’s office also indicted 10 individuals last March in an $11 million mortgage fraud ring involving 34 local properties...Several other investigations of mortgage fraud are ongoing.

Tech Roundup: Interthinx Tackles Conflict-of-Interest Fraud
HousingWire.com
Agoura Hills, Calif.-based Interthinx, Inc., a provider of risk mitigation and regulatory compliance tools, announced last week the addition of 21 new conflict-of-interest alerts within its FraudGUARD scoring system that identify possible collusion between loan participants.

Sex, Lies, and Subprime Mortgages
BusinessWeek
The sexual favors, whistleblower intimidation, and routine fraud behind the fiasco that has triggered the global financial crisis

More Residents Worry About Mortgage Fraud
Killeen Daily Herald - Killeen, TX
Special Agent Matthew Gravelle is an experienced fraud investigator in the Austin office of the FBI's San Antonio Division. During the last five years, mortgage fraud cases have piled up because of the collapsing mortgage market.

Anti-Mortgage Fraud Law Jams Up Realtors
Bizjournals.com - Charlotte, NC
The situation mainly affects short sales, where the asking price is lower than what the homeowner owes on the mortgage. If the homeowner is 60 days delinquent on payments, the home may be considered a “distressed property” under the state Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act that took effect July 1.

Hearing Delayed for 2 Mortgage Brokers Accused of Fraud
Las Vegas Sun - Las Vegas, NV
The preliminary hearing for two Henderson residents accused of mortgage fraud has been pushed back to March because of the defense attorney's involvement in the O.J. Simpson trial in October.

Foreclosure Fallout: Avoid Mortgage Scams, Fraudulent Schemes
KOLD-TV - Tucson, AZ
Thousands of people in Pima County are facing foreclosure...The U.S. Justice Department is cracking down on mortgage scams. So far this year, more than 400 people have been charged with fraud and other mortgage related crimes.

Task Force Will Fight Mortgage Fraud
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - MO
The U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis announced Wednesday that it was forming a task force to combat mortgage fraud. The effort is intended to "cast a broader net so that we can catch more of these criminals and put them behind bars," U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said in a prepared statement.

Interthinx(R) Identifies Potential Collusion in Mortgage Applications
MarketWatch - USA
Interthinx(R) announces the addition of 21 new conflict-of-interest alerts within its proven FraudGUARD(R) scoring system that identify possible collusion between loan participants. The technology advancement will help lenders identify "non-arms length" mortgage transactions -- a serious indicator of potential mortgage fraud.

Viewpoint: Foreclosure Moratoriums, and Interpreting the Truth
Housing Wire - USA
If you read the headlines, you’d think Citigroup is putting a moratorium on most foreclosures nationwide...There’s just one problem: that’s not what Citigroup really said.

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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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