Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Jacksonville Man Pleads Guilty in Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Juan Carlos Gonzalez, 51, Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. The maximum penalties that Gonzalez face are 30 years’ imprisonment, a fine in the amount of $1 million, and a term of supervised release of five years.
According to the plea agreement, and as previously reported on Mortgage Fraud Blog: Gonzalez negotiated the purchase of residential real estate properties in 2004 and 2005. Gonzalez retained a licensed real estate appraiser to fraudulently appraise the properties at significantly inflated values. At Gonzalez’s direction, false financial information pertaining to third-party buyers, including altered financial documents such as bank statements, was submitted to lenders, along with the fraudulent appraisal. The loans that were obtained with the fraudulent information significantly exceeded the actual purchase price. At the closings on the properties, Gonzalez received the difference between the loan amount, which was based on the inflated appraisal, and the actual purchase price. This difference was the proceeds of the fraud.
Over the course of the scheme, Gonzalez fraudulently obtained loans on at least 42 properties, victimizing numerous lenders, including federally insured financial institutions. The fraudulent acts resulted in lenders extending more than $22 million in mortgage loans, which would not have been approved but for the fraud. Gonzalez, who had no other source of significant income, was the primary beneficiary of the scheme, which grossed more than $5 million.
mortgage fraud
This practice was a daily occurrence in most real estate offices (if not all). As an appraiser, everyone I solicited wanted me to do this. So what happened to the appraiser in this case? Probably nothing.
Posted by on 11/26 at 09:28 AM
Anybody know if this perp was legally present in the U.S.?
Posted by on 11/26 at 12:45 PM
Mortgage Fraud involves a group of people who defraud not only home-buyers but also mortgage lenders. For instance, a dishonest broker may tie up with a loan processor and create fictitious credit profile and get together with an appraiser to inflate borrowers’ property value. Then there are the straw buyers who represent themselves with false information and thereby get involved in defrauding lenders.
Posted by
Mortgage Fraud on 11/27 at 10:46 PM
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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...
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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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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. 
