imageRachel 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 83 Count Indictment
- Beazer Homes Settles Accusations of Mortgage and Accounting Fraud
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- Former Mortgage Broker Pleads Guilty in $1.6 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Florida Man Indicted For Inflating Property Values

Juan Carlos Gonzalez, 50, Jacksonville, Florida, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. The maximum penalties Gonzalez faces if convicted are 30 years of imprisonment and a fine of $1,000,000. Gonzalez was arrested and made his initial appearance in federal court. He was released on $10,000 bond and required to stay at home with electronic monitoring.

According to the indictment, during 2004 and 2005, Gonzalez negotiated the purchase of houses and entered into contracts with the sellers of the properties. For each property, Gonzalez retained an appraiser who appraised the property at a significantly inflated value requested by Gonzalez. At Gonzalez‘s direction, the inflated appraisal price was submitted to a lender in support of an application for a mortgage loan based upon the higher price. The lender was not informed that the price listed in the transaction documents was higher than the actual price negotiated with the seller.

The Indictment alleges further that at Gonzalez‘s direction, fraudulent financial documents and information, including such things as altered bank statements and payroll records, were submitted in support of the loan application. The false financial information was intended to cause the lender to approve a loan in a higher amount than would have been approved if true financial information had been submitted. At the closing on the property, Gonzalez received the difference between the loan amount, which was based on the inflated appraisal, and the actual purchase price, usually described with terms such as “assignment fee” or “payoff of second mortgage” that did not

exist. This difference was the proceeds of the fraud.

The indictment provides details of one transaction in which Gonzalez entered into an agreement to purchase a house for $490,000. He obtained an inflated appraisal of the house for $625,000 and submitted first and second mortgage loan applications reflecting a sales price of $625,000. Gonzalez also submitted altered bank account statements showing significantly larger cash balances in the account than were actually there. Based upon this information, the lender approved the loans. At the closing on the property, a check for $134,000 was issued to an entity controlled by Gonzalez. This amount was listed on closing documents as an “Assignment of Contract Fee.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

   

Posted by Staff Reporter on 06/26/08 at 05:43 AM
Mortgage Fraud • Total comments: (5) (0) Trackbacks
  1. Why did this man ever think he was going to continue to get away with this?

    Amanda <3

    Posted by  on  06/30  at  08:30 AM
  2. Why didn’t they indicte the appraiser also?  Without his fraudulent appraisals the defendant would not have been able to pull this fraud off.  The appraiser should have been indicted for conspiracy to commit.  18 USC 1000 - 1344

    Posted by  on  07/02  at  07:32 AM
  3. In some of these cases, the appraiser is helping the prosecution by testifying against the other players.  That’s why they don’t always get indicted themselves.

    Posted by  on  07/02  at  09:03 AM
  4. The problem is that it was the appraiser who inflated the value, therefore he is still a conspirator and should, at least, get a plea bargain but not just walk.

    Posted by  on  07/02  at  11:20 AM
  5. The title of the article is misleading. Since it is the appraiser’s opinion of value that is used to secure the financing, then the appraiser should be held accountable for their opinion of value. Gonzalez was trying to get away with some kind of scam, but without an appraiser advocating for Gonzalez it never could have worked. Gonzalez did not inflate the value, but he may have inflated the price.

    Posted by  on  07/02  at  04:42 PM

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Today's News

Some Sources require Registration.

 

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.

Shaker Pair Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Charges
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.

Former UGA, NFL Football Player Arthur Marshall Charged With Mortgage Fraud Claims
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...

Previous Articles

TRIAL COVERAGE

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.



More Trial Coverage

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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.

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