Thursday, March 30, 2006
New Jersey Flip Conspiracy Results in Guilty Plea
A former real estate broker, loan officer, closing attorney and Ecuadoran immigrant pleaded guilty in New Jersey to their roles in a conspiracy to “flip” properties in Union County, New Jersey and defraud the HUD of more than $300,000.
Mario Mendoza, 41, Union, New Jersey, was formerly a real estate broker with Weichert Realtors in Union.
Kenneth DiPrenda, 42, East Hanover, New Jersey, was formerly a loan officer at AMS Mortgage in West Patterson.
Linda Serrano, 44, Union, New Jersey, is a private-practice attorney.
Myrium Vaca, 45, Elizabeth, New Jersey, is an Ecuadoran national and worked, at times, for Mendoza.
Mendoza, DiPrenda and Vaca, each pleaded guilty to separate one-count criminal Informations which alleged conspiracy to submit false statement to HUD. Serrano pleaded guilty to a one-count Information which alleged the submission of false statements to HUD.
According to the Informations, the conspirators fraudulently induced HUD to insure certain mortgage loans made to unqualified borrowers, enabling Mendoza, DiPrenda, Serrano, Vaca and their co-conspirators to earn hundred of thousands of dollars in profits from the sales of properties financed by the fraudulent loans.
According to the Informations to which the defendants pleaded guilty, HUD was defrauded by more than $300,000. The fraud took place between approximately December 1999 and July 2001
As part of the alleged conspiracy, the defendants and others solicited and recruited individuals who, with false identification, purchased homes in Union County, New Jersey and elsewhere. Many of the homes were being sold by Mendoza’s clients at Weichert. Those clients were unwittingly duped into selling their homes to unqualified borrowers who were using fake identification.
According to the Informations, DiPrenda, a loan officer, assisted in qualifying the borrowers for HUD-insured loans. Further, Mendoza, Vaca and others falsified documents for the borrowers’ loan files and then submitted the files to banks and, soon thereafter, HUD. The false documents included gift letters, credit explanation letters, W-2 form and employment records.
As part of the conspiracy, Mendoza often told sellers that their properties were being sold for a price that, unbeknownst to them, was far lower – often by tens of thousands of dollars – than the amount that was ultimately financed through the fraudulently secured HUD loans.
Serrano, as the closing agent, would complete two separate HUD-1 closing forms so that the seller would not know that the property was being sold for thousands more than the agreed upon price. One HUD-1 would show the decreased purchase price that would be given to the seller at the closing. The other HUD-1 would show the more accurate inflated price that would ultimately be forward to HUD.
According to the Informations, when the defendants did not sell the properties using two HUD-1s, they would assist unqualified borrowers, all of whom fraudulently used others identification, qualify for HUD-insured loans by fabricating documents on their behalf.
During their plea hearings, defendants Mendoza, DiPrenda and Vaca admitted to their roles in the conspiracy. Among other things, Mendoza admitted recruiting borrowers to use fake identifications to purchase properties he was selling for his clients at Weichert.
DiPrenda admitted falsifying documents, such as false credit explanation letters, in order to qualify unqualified borrowers for HUD-insured loans.
Vaca admitted to providing false gift letters, letters purporting to provide thousands of dollars to assist her relatives purchase homes, when in fact she neither provided the monies, nor was related to borrowers.
Serrano admitted preparing a materially false HUD-1 at Mendoza’s direction.
The defendants each face maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencings are scheduled for June 28 and 29, 2006.
mortgage fraud
Does anyone know if this is the Mario Mendoza of Investors Realty in Union, NJ?
Posted by on 10/10 at 03:18 PM
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Trial coverage provided by Anne Mitchell, Crazy Fish Realty.
F. Jeffrey Miller Update - October 20, 2009
A hearing was held in Topeka, Kansas in front of Judge Julie Robinson. Miller is currently being held pending his sentencing which is set for December 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.. Steve Vanatta and Hallie Irvin, Miller's codefendants, will be sentenced at that time also.
Several motions were heard this week. One was a motion for Miller to be released pending his sentencing. Miller's attorney, Jeff Morris, argued that the court had dismmissed with predjudice the matter involving Miller's purchase of a commercial lawnmower, violating the court ordered monitoring agreement. He also argued that Miller was not a flight risk and should be released. This motion was denied.
Another motion heard by Judge Robinson was that of an escrow account containing proceeds from the sale of Miller's forfeited assets. This account has a balance of $143,000. Attorney Morris argued that his firm was due $100,000 for work done in the Miller matter, to date. The government argued that his 'un-itemized fees' were 'exhorbitant'. The balance of the funds, Morris argued, should be released to the Miller family to help pay for mounting household expenses.
The government argued that the 'Asset Forfeiture Provision' applies down to 'the last penny' and that 'the rights of the victims to made whole are of paramount immportance' and that no routine household expenses like Visa bills, are allowed.
Attorney Morris argues that there is more than enough assets to satisfy the jury's judgement of $2.65 million dollars. The government argues that the estimated value of his assets are only $1.4 million.
The government also stated that Miller has been paid dividends from a company Miller has an ownership interest in; Boreflex. From July, 2008 to present, Miller has been paid $330,509.30 from Boreflex, unbeknownst to the court appointed monitor.
Present in the courtroom was Todd Earnshaw. Earnshaw was indicted along with Miller and others in what is commonly referred to as 'Miller I'. That trial is scheduled to begin on January 11, 2010 in Topeka, Kansas.
More Trial Coverage
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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 
