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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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Mortgage Fraud Scheme Leads to 83 Count Indictment
Benjamin Tubbs, 49, Pickerington, Ohio, Kevin Murphy, 50, Blacklick, Ohio, and Karl Mullins, 33, formerly of Columbus, Ohio, and now residing in Florida, are alleged to have acted as the mortgage brokers and orchestrators of a scheme to buy and sell houses at highly-inflated prices and to falsify loan documents in order to skim ten of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars from each sale.
Tubbs, Murphy and Mullins operated under the business names of Premier Mortgage Funding, North American Real Estate Services, One Residential and other names in a scheme that allegedly netted the group millions of dollars in fraudulent loan proceeds. Tubbs, Murphy and Mullins face charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, receiving stolen property, and money laundering.
Cynthia Underdew, 53, Columbus, Ohio, also alleged to be among the primary orchestrators of the scheme, acted as a loan officer and mortgage loan coordinator for many of the loans involved, though investigators indicate she was not licensed to perform such work. Charges against Underdew include engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, identity fraud, falsification, and receiving stolen property. Underdew and Tubbs also are alleged to have fraudulently purchased properties using the personal identifying information of other individuals without their authority or permission.
Karen Axline, 48, Granville, Ohio, was indicted on charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and receiving stolen property. Axline operated the now-defunct Granville Title Agency in Granville and is alleged to have colluded with Tubbs, Murphy, Mullins and Underdew in structuring many of the transactions to deceive lenders.
Kevin Gray, 48, Reynoldsburg, Ohio, is alleged to have been a co-conspirator who purchased and sold a number of properties and is alleged to have laundered thousands of dollars in illicit proceeds. Charges against him include engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, money laundering, and receiving stolen property.
Real estate agents Nina Masseria and Tim Arrington of Carriage Trade Realty are alleged to have been involved in four of the sales and each was indicted on a charge of engaging in a pattern of corruptactivity. Appraisers Joseph Colegrove and Scott Walisa and Assistant Appraiser Terri White face charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, and falsification.
Earron West, 38, Columbus, Ohio, allegedly acted as a loan officer in three of the transactions in question and was indicted on charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, falsification, money laundering, and receiving stolen property. Nina Dearing, 29, Columbus, is accused of purchasing and selling some of the properties involved and faces charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, receiving stolen property, and money laundering.
Investigators report that more than 30 loan transactions are at issue in this case and some properties were recycled through multiple fraudulent loan transactions. It is alleged that loan applications and documents were falsified on behalf of borrowers, and that orchestrators made down payments allowing borrowers to secure loans in which tens of thousands of dollars were laundered through fictitious home contractor companies.
Further, most of these loans ended in foreclosure, exacting a detrimental toll on the neighborhoods within which the properties are located. Many of the houses are located in urban areas of Columbus that have experienced a stream of foreclosures in recent years.
Some of the Ohio properties involved in the transactions include:
988 S. Champion, Columbus; 57 S. Champion, Columbus; 1001-1003 Linwood, Columbus; 1638 Granville, Columbus; 471 S. Champion, Columbus; 70 Wilson, Columbus; 1590 Cordell, Columbus; 1611 Sullivant, Columbus; 49 N. Ohio, Columbus; 932 Bryden, Columbus; 1227 Bryden, Columbus; 357 Linwood, Columbus; 153 Monroe, Columbus; 1000 Studer, Columbus; 256 E. North Broadway, Columbus; and 106 Tar Heel, Delaware;
The indictments come as the result of a multi-agency collaboration among local, state and federal investigators in conjunction with the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission. That collaborative body, known as the Central Ohio Mortgage Fraud Task Force, investigated the case over the past year. The task force is led by the Columbus Division of Police Economic Crime Unit. Other members of the task force include the Office of Inspector General for Housing and Urban Development, the Upper Arlington Police Department, the office of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the office of Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien.
In addition to the indictments and resulting arrests of Murphy, Underdew, Gray, Masseria and White, task force partners report that a 2002 Jaguar XJ Sport automobile was seized; the car is believed to have been purchased with proceeds from the scheme.
Investigators report that as the investigation continues, more people could be charged.
i have worked with 7 of these people
involved,was their a seach warrant?
who served the warrant?
Posted by on 07/02 at 08:56 PM
This is what one can call “organized crime” and all parties should be charged under the RICO statutes and go to maximum security prisons and be beaten with blunt objects for several hours each day.
Posted by on 07/03 at 03:26 AM
beat then with blunt objets....while child molesters are living close to my house with no jail time...get a clue you moron..floyd
Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors On Line WSJ.Com
A little-noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old.
Oregon to Help Homeowners Prevent Foreclosures CBS State
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.
Couple Loses $850,000 in Alleged Ponzi Scheme Boston Herald
Al and Susan McIlvene of Kittery Point, Maine, can remember the exact moment in November when they realized they might lose their entire life savings of $850,000, reports the Portsmouth Herald.
Mortgage Fraud Charges Filed Against Former Bakersfield Realtor, Her father KGET.Com
A former Bakersfield real estate agent and her father face 15 felony counts each of money laundering, conspiracy and grand theft in connection with an alleged multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme, newly filed court charges show.
Witness: Mortgage Name Not the Same Clarion Ledger
A former Clinton homeowner was called to testify Wednesday as prosecutors to try to prove a Ridgeland-based mortgage broker and two associates were behind a $9 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Man Accused of Money Laundering, Theft in Moorpark Home Purchase Case VC Star
A man suspected of grand theft and money laundering in connection with the 2005 purchase of a $1.8 million home in Moorpark was arrested this week while trying to enter the United States from Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.
Special Prosecutor for Leary Rejected Journal Gazette
An Allen Superior Court judge denied a request to appoint a special prosecutor in the case of Todd Leary, a former Indiana University basketball player and radio commentator charged with 17 felonies in connection with a mortgage funds scheme.
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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