Mortgage Fraud Blog is the premier website for news and information on mortgage fraud and real estate fraud throughout the United States.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of Smith Dollar, PC, is licensed to practice law in California and maintains offices in Santa Rosa, California. Email Ms. Dollar
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Sergej Tews was charged in a 22-count indictment for his alleged involvment in a complex fraud scheme involving the abuse of the State of Florida’s foreclosure process. Through this fraudulent scheme, Tews defrauded third-party purchasers seeking to buy allegedly foreclosed properties of approximately $615,900.
Acording to the indictment, from March 2007 through August 2008, defendant Sergej Tews identified at least eight homeowners interested in relinquishing their mortgages and induced them to transfer their properties to him based on a promise that he would assume the payments on their outstanding mortgage loans. With respect to each property, the property owner executed a warranty deed, prepared by Tews, which gave the false appearance that the property was being sold, not just transferred, to a third party. These third parties were relatives of Tews. In no instance did Tews’ relatives provide any money to the seller, make any payment on any outstanding mortgages, or even meet the seller.
Upon filing the false warranty deeds at the Miami-Dade County Recorder’s Office, Tews a) fabricated the amount paid for each property; b) hid the fact of the original homeowner’s outstanding mortgages; and c) paid the filing taxes based on the fabricated purchase price, making it appear as though the property had been purchased for the fraudulent amount.
At the same time that Tews filed the warranty deeds, he filed false mortgages with the Miami-Dade County Recorder’s Office, which were dated the same date as the warranty deeds. The mortgages made it appear as if each of the Tews’s relatives had borrowed money from a supposed lending company to finance the alleged purchase of the property. In each case, the supposed lending company was a company that Tews incorporated (in some instances, after the date of the alleged loan) and for which Tews was the owner, officer and general partner.
None of Tews’s supposed lending companies were registered to do business in Florida nor were licensed to operate as a mortgage lender. Additionally, Tews’s supposed lending companies each had a name notably similar to the name of an already existing mortgage lender registered to do business in Florida. For example, he created a supposed lending company called Argent Mortgages, LLC, closely named after the established lender Argent Mortgage Company, LLC. As another example, Tews created Fremont Lending, LLC, a bogus lending company named after the established Freemont Investment & Loan Company. In no instance did any of Tews’s supposed lenders loan any money in connection with the false and fraudulent loans. Regardless, Tews initiated foreclosure actions with respect to each property.
Tews executed and filed with Miami-Dade County courts a sworn affidavit of indebtedness claiming that the purported borrower, his relative, was in default of the fraudulent loan. In each case, the alleged defaulting borrower never responded to the action, and the court issued a Final Judgment of Foreclosure in favor of the supposed foreclosing lender and scheduled a foreclosure sale where the properties were auctioned to the highest bidder.
At the foreclosure sales, third-party purchasers, deceived by Tews’s fraudulent warranty deeds and mortgages into believing that there were no pre-existing mortgages, bid on, and sometimes purchased, the properties. As a result of his scheme, Tews received approximately $615,900 into his bank accounts. The actual, outstanding lenders have since foreclosed on the properties.
Failed Mortgage Firm Trustee Allowed $50,000 in Fees Union Leader
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge J. Michael Deasy will approve $50,000 in legal fees for the trustee of failed mortgage brokerage businesses Financial Resources Mortgage Inc. and CL&M Inc.
Bend Oregon Event to Help Homeowners Prevent Foreclosures Oregon.Gov
As part of an ongoing effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, state agencies are organizing a foreclosure-prevention event in Bend on Saturday, March 27, 2010.
Shelbyville Man Gets 2-Year Sentence For Loan Fraud Chattanoogan.Com
Prosecutor Gary Humble said the lost was approximately $2.3 million in the mortgage fraud involving hundreds of homes in the Shelbyville area.
Lend America, VP Ashley Banned from FHA Housing Wire
Michael Ashley, the embattled former vice president of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgage originator Lend America, and the company he worked for, were permanently banned from doing business in the industry last week.
Countrywide Tries to Pin Blame on Insurer Court House News
Countrywide Home Loans demands $111 million from Triad Guaranty Insurance, claiming Triad is trying to blame mortgage lenders for the insurer's role in the housing bubble and collapse.
Investors Say They Were Swindled in Property Scheme Fox 13 Now
Utah Division of Consumer Protection is joining forces with a few investors who claim they have been cheated by an agency called "Utah Mini Ranches.
Greenfield Man Accused of Housing Scam The Republic
A former real estate agent conned at least eight people by renting them properties actually owned by a federal agency and then running off with their deposits, prosecutors said.
Appraisal Institute Opposes Obama Administration's Plan for Homeowner 'Short Sales' PR News Wire
Citing concerns about increased mortgage fraud, four organizations representing more than 35,000 real estate appraisers today voiced their opposition to changes to an Obama administration program that will encourage "short sales" of homes.
Ownership Rights to Get Another Look TBO.Com
State lawmakers may beef up protections of property owners' rights by rewriting a law this spring that is at the center of a case of alleged fraud in Pasco County.
Thursday, February 18, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Continued Testimony
As reported by Anne Mitchell, who viewed the trial:
Angela Parenza worked for Jeff Miller as the office manager for 7 or 8 years beginning in 1998. Parenza was indicted along with Miller and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering. Parenza testified that Miller or his contractors allegedly preferred to build all the...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Coverage Continued - Witness Testimony
Steve Middleton Testimony - Coverage Provided by Anne Mitchell
The Government continued in its cross examination of Steve Middleton. He was shown several HUD-1 statements involving sales of homes located in Overland Park, KS, and Olathe, KS. The HUD statements each allegedly showed line items of payments to (James) Moser & Associates, LLC's...
Monday, February 01, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial Coverage - Continued Witness Examination
According to Anne Mitchell, who is present in court for the trial:
Next Witness: Kelly Sanford
Kelly Sanford of the Federal Reserve was a short witness for the Government. Sanford manages electronic payments between banks and member financial institutions. He was shown copies of wire transfers and asked whether they coincided with the counts in...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 F. Jeffrey Miller Trial - Prosecution Witnesses Continued
According to Anne Mitchell, who is viewing the trial:
January 13, 2010
Witness: Rick Hayes
Rick Hayes testified that on the day that he closed on his Miller Enterprise home, he received a phone call from the Kansas Banking Commission informing him that his loan was fraudulent. After the Hayes responded to a classified ad, they met with John...
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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.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of 
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