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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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Rene Abreu, His Wife, Bank Senior V.P. and Eight Others Indicted
A well-known Hudson County businessman and his wife were charged in an Indictment with multiple bank fraud schemes, including mortgage fraud, check-kiting, money laundering, cash structuring in excess of $2 million, bribery of bank officials, and more, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.
Rene Abreu, 40, of Fort Lee and Lourdes Adan-Abreu, his wife, 39, together own several Hudson County-based companies, including The Mortgage Pros, Inc., Abreu Real Estate and RLA Homes. Each of the companies were used to facilitate the various bank and mail frauds alleged in the Indictment, according to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carlos F. Ortiz and Deborah L. Goldklang.
Also charged was Luis Nieves, 56, of Leonia, New Jersey, a senior vice president for Hudson United Bank. The Indictment accuses Nieves of accepting a bribe for assisting Abreu obtain a commercial loan. Nieves is also charged with assisting Abreu in a check-kiting scheme that spanned five years that, at times, created a negative balance in Abreu‘s accounts in excess of $1 million. Nieves is further charged with money laundering.
Eight others are charged in the 43-count Indictment: Ana Martell, 34 of North Bergen; Kathy Giunta, 43, of North Bergen; Valeriano Sanchez, 38, of Parsippany; Fernandez Jimenez; Edgardo Aguirre; Ronald Rosner; Jose Cervino, 43; of Ridgefield, and Manuel Mier, 47, of Hillside.
Abreu and Mier turned themselves in voluntarily to the FBI in Newark, while the following defendants were arrested: Martell, Sanchez, Nieves and Cervino.
Six of the defendants made initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan D. Wigenton: Abreu, Martell, Sanchez, Nieves, Cervino and Mier.
An arraignment on the Indictment for all of the defendants is scheduled for May 23 at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr., the judge assigned to hear the case.
The Indictment was returned on May 2 by a federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey and unsealed May 8, 2002.
Counts One and Two of the Indictment charge Abreu, his wife, Martell, Giunta, Sanchez, Jimenez, Aguirre, Rosner and Nieves with conspiring to commit mail fraud. The counts allege that Rene Abreu and other employees and associates of The Mortgage Pros, Inc. fraudulently submitted fictitious loan-related documents to several financial institutions, to induce the institutions to issue residential and commercial loans to clients of The Mortgage Pros, Inc.
Count Two of the indictment specifically accuses Luis Nieves, as senior vice president at Hudson United Bank, of facilitating the mail fraud scheme by processing certain of the commercial loan applications on behalf of Hudson United Bank, and misrepresenting the financial status of the borrowers to the loan review committee at Hudson United Bank. Count 16 also charges Nieves with bank bribery, in connection with his solicitation and receipt of approximately $3,000 from another individual, while an officer and employee of Hudson United, as a reward for his assistance in helping the individual obtain a commercial loan.
Counts Three through 12 of the indictment charge specific acts of mail fraud affecting financial institutions, engaged in by Abreu, Lourdes Adan-Abreu, Jimenez, Giunta, Martell, Sanchez and Jose Cervino.
Count 14 further charges Abreu, his wife, Martell (an employee of The Mortgage Pros, Inc. and Chief Financial Officer of RLA Homes), and Nieves with conspiring to defraud Hudson United Bank, by engaging in a fraudulent check-kiting scheme, whereby they continuously drew checks on Abreu‘s commercial bank accounts with insufficient funds at Hudson United and credited other of Abreu‘s accounts with these seemingly bona fide checks, in order to pay the business and personal expenses of Abreu and others.
Counts 13 and 15 also charge Abreu, Lourdes Adan-Abreu, Martell and Nieves with conspiring to engage in money laundering, involving the proceeds of both the check-kiting scheme described in Count 14 and the mail fraud scheme described in Counts One and Three through 12.
Count 17 charges that Abreu and Mier conspired to extort money for the protection of illegal gambling. The count alleges that Abreu and Mier demanded and accepted from Alexander V. Oriente, the former chief of police in West New York, bribe and protection money from the proceeds of the video gambling business of Boardwalk Amusements, a West New York business.
Boardwalk Amusements had been conducting illegal gambling operations with the knowledge and protection of the West New York Police Department (the “WNYPD"). In exchange for the protection and promotion of this activity by the WNYPD, the owners of Boardwalk Amusements and others made bribe and protection payments directly to Oriente and other WNYPD officers. Abreu and Mier demanded that Oriente deliver to them the Boardwalk Amusements extortion proceeds, and represented to Oriente that they were acting on behalf of a high-level West New York public official. From in or about June 1995 to in or about July 1997, Rene Abreu and Manuel Mier received these cash payments from Oriente and others.
Count 18 charges Abreu, Lourdes Adan-Abreu, Martell, Giunta, Aguirre and Mier with conspiring to structure currency transactions, by causing in excess of $2 million to be deposited into accounts at Hudson United Bank and other financial institutions in amounts of less than $10,000, to avoid the filing of currency transaction reports by the financial institutions, as required by law. Counts 19 through 42 also charge Abreu, his wife, Martell, Giunta and Aguirre with specific acts of structuring currency transactions.
Count 43 charges Lourdes Adan-Abreu with bribing a bank employee, in that she gave to a bank teller at Hudson United Bank more than $5,000 in cash payments to influence the bank teller in connection with the business and transactions of Hudson United Bank.
The indictment also contains two forfeiture allegations: the first forfeiture allegation seeks forfeiture of a monetary judgment of $846,320 representing the total amount of money involved in the structuring offenses charged in Counts 19 through 42, as well as the forfeiture of three lots and/or parcels of land by Abreu, his wife, Martell, Guinta and Aguirre. The second forfeiture allegation seeks forfeiture of a monetary judgment of $300,000 representing the total amount of money involved in the money laundering offenses charged in Counts 13 and 15, as well as the forfeiture of one lot and/or parcel of land.
(See two addendums for details on charges and potential penalties, as well as a recitation of the defendants and the counts in the Indictment against each of them).
The charges contained in the Indictment are only accusations. Despite Indictment, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.
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Summary of Charges, Penalties - Abreu et al. Indictment
Counts 1 and 2 charge conspiracy to commit mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1341.
Each conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross loss to the victim(s) or gain to the defendant.
Counts 3 through 12 charge mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 2.
Each mail fraud count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross loss to the victim(s) or gain to the defendant.
Count 13 and 15 charge two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(h), 1956(a)(1)(A)(i).
Each money laundering conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison and a $500,000 fine or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.
Count 14 charges conspiracy to commit bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1344. (Same penalties as stated for Counts 1 and 2).
Count 16 charges bank bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 215(a)(2) and 2.
The bank bribery count carries a maximum penalty of thirty years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine or three times the value of the thing given, offered, promised, solicited, demanded, or accepted, whichever is greater.
Count 17 charges conspiracy to extort money in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).
The violation carries a maximum penalty of 20 years and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross loss to the victim(s) or gain to the defendant.
Count 18 charges conspiracy to structure currency transactions in violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5324(a)(3) and (d)(1) and 18 U.S.C. §371.
(Same penalties as stated for Counts 1 and 2 and 14).
Counts 19 through 42 charge structuring of currency transactions in violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5324(a)(3) and (d)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
The violations carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross loss to the victim(s) or gain to the defendant.
Counts 43 charges bank bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 215(a)(1) and 2.
(Same penalties as stated for Count 16.)
The defendants are charged in the counts of the Indictment as follows:
Abreu: Counts One, Two, Three through 15 and Counts 17 through 42
Lourdes Adan-Abreu: Counts One, Three, Five, 13, 14, 15 and 18 through 43
Martell: Counts One, Two, Five, Six, 13, 14,15, 18, 20 through 23, 29, 36 and 40
Giunta: Counts One, Two, Four through Nine, 12, 18, 20, 22, 23 and 29
I’m in the prosses of chapter 7 Bankruptcy and had my lender which has filed with the courts a releafe of stay of the bankruptcy law concering Abadenment sinse under law i can only have 400 dollars on me at anytime and my lawyer seems fit to let me plunge into the abass of Doom. I am representing my case to the courts I have had numeres courses in paralegel training so here I go. A human that gives up himself to the triblulations and the Greed of others, will not give one ounce of what his worth, and soul can muster in defiance of what truth stands for!
Failed Mortgage Firm Trustee Allowed $50,000 in Fees Union Leader
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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
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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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