Thursday, March 30, 2006
First Sentences in $20 Million Missouri Mortgage Fraud
A former mortgage broker and a former real estate appraiser were sentenced in Missouri federal court in separate but related cases involving a property flipping scheme and mortgage fraud. Their fraud was part of a larger scheme that involved nearly 300 fraudulent loans worth almost $20 million.
Avonda Nicodemus, 33, Kansas City, Missouri, a former account executive at Ameriquest Mortgage in Gladstone, Missouri was sentenced to five years of probation, including four months of electronic monitoring, and ordered to pay $1,158,501 in restitution. Under the terms of probation, Nicodemus may not work as a loan broker or in the mortgage business.
Peggy Snodgrass, 40, Independence, Missouri, who operated a real estate appraisal business in Raytown, Missouri, was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay $1,149,188 in restitution.
Nicodemus and Snodgrass are the first defendants sentenced in the mortgage fraud scheme in which six defendants have pleaded guilty. The largest mortgage fraud case ever prosecuted in the Western District of Missouri, the scheme encompassed 289 fraudulent loans totaling $19.6 million, with a total actual loss of approximately $11.8 million for the financial institutions that were defrauded.
Brent Michael Barber, 41, of Belton, Missouri, pleaded guilty on February 23, 2006, to 104 counts contained in two federal indictments. Those indictments, as well as a third federal indictment for which Barber was convicted by a jury, involve separate schemes to defraud mortgage lending companies of millions of dollars.
Barber admitted that he recruited people to purchase rental properties, assuring them that he would find renters for the properties and sell the properties a short time later, so that the victim-investors would have no financial risk and a guaranteed quick profit. Then he provided false information on the loan documents and arranged for inflated appraisals in order to receive approval for the loans. Many of the buyers would not have qualified for the loans if true information had been given to the lenders.
During the first conspiracy, from May through October 1999, Barber was a client of Ameriquest Mortgage. During that period, he conspired with co-defendants Nicodemus, Roderick Neil Criss, 34, Kansas City, Missouri, who was the branch manager, and Cauncey Calvert, 35, Kansas City, Missouri, who was an account executive, to defraud Ameriquest.
As a result of that conspiracy, Ameriquest Mortgage approved 66 fraudulent loans totaling $4 million.
Snodgrass pleaded guilty on February 17, 2005, to her role in that mortgage fraud conspiracy. Snodgrass admitted that she provided artificially inflated appraisals on properties for which Barber was seeking mortgage loans from Ameriquest, Countrywide Home Loans and Hamilton Mortgage. In return, she received fees and other benefits.
Between June 9, 1999, and November 1, 2000, in response to requests from co-conspirators, Snodgrass prepared 75 false and fraudulent appraisals, inflating the values of the properties, misrepresenting the work she had done to prepare the appraisals, and at times misrepresenting the condition of the properties. For example, Snodgrass prepared and submitted a fraudulent appraisal for property at 29 E. 32 St., Kansas City, Missouri, for $73,000 in response to a request from a co-conspirator. Snodgrass stated that she personally inspected the property and that it was in good to average condition with no observable external depreciation. In reality, the house had failed city codes inspections and was on track for demolition based on findings that the building was dangerous and a nuisance, that the foundation and siding were cracked, and that the frame, guard rail, roof, gutters, porch, soffit, and fascia were damaged, decayed, or deteriorated.
mortgage fraud
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Mortgage Fraud: Beware the Wolf (Loan Officer) in Sheep's Clothing
24-7PressRelease.com - USA
US consumers looking to refinance their homes or to secure a home loan to purchase their dream homes would be well advised to educate themselves...
Internet Scammer Sells Cape Coral Residential Lot For $18,000
The News-Press - Fort Myers, FL
Because she had title insurance, Kunda will probably get back her money from the 2007 purchase, but the incident highlights cracks in the real estate market and the risk from international scammers who are growing more sophisticated.
Prosecutors Busy With Fraud Cases
Daytona Beach News-Journal - Daytona Beach, FL
The U.S. Justice Department has formed more than 40 mortgage fraud task forces nationwide as prosecutors and investigators struggle with a flood of mortgage-related criminal cases. The FBI reports that its mortgage-fraud caseload has more than doubled in three years to about 1,600 investigations that have cost lenders at least $4 billion. About 200 FBI agents are assigned to the cases, up from 120 a year ago.
Yanchek may take plea deal
Herald Tribune
Sarasota attorney John Yanchek is expected to plead guilty to mortgage fraud next week, statements from a federal prosecutor and the judge presiding over the high-profile criminal case seem to indicate.
Bear Stearns Execs Trial Slated for September
News Inferno
Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund executives are slated to go to trial in September over charges that they lied to investors about two of the funds they managed
Rockford, Chicago lead state in mortgage fraud
Rockford Register Star
Reported incidents of mortgage fraud grew by 45 percent in the second quarter compared with the year-ago period.
Report Finds Tampa No. 2 In Florida For Iffy Mortgages
Tampa Bay Online
In a state that leads the nation in mortgage fraud, Tampa had the second most cases of suspicious loan activity of any Florida city, according to a report released this morning from the Reston, Va.-based Mortgage Asset Research Institute.
Mortgage Fraud Jumps by 45% on Fewer Loan Applications in U.S., Per... MARI
Cloud Computing Journal
Key findings from the MARI Quarterly Fraud Report include that fraud most often occurs at the beginning of the loan process. More than 65 percent of fraud incidents are attributed to "General Application Misrepresentation"
Seven Are Accused Of Identity Theft And Mortage Fraud
The Star Ledger, New Jersey
Seven people have been arrested in connection with an international identity-theft scheme that targeted home equity lines of credit and siphoned at least $2.5 million away from dozens of banks, including more than 10 in New Jersey, according to documents unsealed today.
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.
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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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