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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In Pennsylvania, ten individuals were charged in an 18-count indictment with a massive mortgage and identity fraud scheme. The fraud involved nearly 180 properties in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the vast majority of which will fall into foreclosure. The government and private mortgage lenders are at risk of losing over $11,000,000 because of the fraud.
Accused in the recently unsealed indictment of participating in the scheme were:
Vincent Sirolli, 64, Deptford, New Jersey
Mahn Huu “Bruce” Doan, 38, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ciriaco Gatta, 43, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Anthony Giampietro, 52, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Mary Diantonio, 49, Sicklerville, New Jersey
Dana Siciliano, 44, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June Kodiak, 57, Bensalem, Pennsylvania
Keith Lyon, 43, Jackson, New Jersey
Trung Tam Dang, 36, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Zu-Yun “Andy” Kim, 27, Media, Pennsylvania
According to authorities, self-described real estate investor, Mahn Huu Doan, a/k/a “Bruce Doan,” hit on a scheme to try to make money. He and his associates would purchase houses using false or borrowed identities. Doan managed to buy these houses with government insured loans. With the help of Trung Tam Dang, Doan made up false paper work – including false bank records, false W-2 forms, and false pay stubs – which he used to apply for these mortgages. Most of the mortgages came from a company called Encore Mortgage Services, Inc., which was owned by Vincent Sirolli. Participating in and profiting from the fraud, Sirolli and his employees – Dana Siciliano, a loan officer; June Kodiak, a loan originator; and Keith Lyon, the company’s Chief Operating Officer – processed the applications and got Doan the money he needed. The scheme worked, in part, because Ciriaco Gatta, a/k/a “Jack Gatta,” an appraiser (C.A. Gatta & Associates, 2525 South Broad Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), fraudulently inflated the appraisals on the houses. Those fraudulent appraisals allowed Doan, Sirolli, and the others to wring excess profits from the deals, profits the schemers used to keep the fraud going and to line their own pockets. At the closings on the deals, settlement agents Mary Diantonio (Rittenhouse Abstract and First City Abstract Agency, Inc., 1429 Walnut Street, 6th Floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Anthony Giampietro (Rittenhouse Abstract, Inc., 2617 South 21st Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) prepared paperwork that falsely described the flow of money in the deals, thereby hiding the fraud from mortgage lenders and the government. Zu-Yun Kim, a/k/a “Andy Kim,” an associate of Doan’s, often posed as a buyer or seller at the closings, signing paper work using a false identity.
The defendants planned to hold on to the houses they purchased for a short time, and then re-sell or “flip” them for a profit. They were unable. Still, they had to pay the mortgages on the houses. They failed. As a result, nearly all of the houses will go into foreclosure.
“Foreclosures affect everyone in Philadelphia,” United States Attorney Pat Meehan stated. “A recent study by The Reinvestment Fund estimates that, for every foreclosure within a block of your house and within a year, your house will lose 1% of its value.” Meehan went on, “You can therefore imagine the impact that 180 foreclosures will have on our neighborhoods. If we are to keep our neighborhoods intact, we must stop the kind of fraud that happened here.”
If convicted the defendants face maximum possible sentences of:
Vincent Sirolli, 82 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $1,500,000 fine;
Bruce Doan, 42 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine;
Jack Gatta, 27 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $750,000 fine;
Anthony Giampietro, 82 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $1,500,000 fine;
Mary DiAntonio, 2 years imprisonment, 1 year of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine;
Dana Siciliano, 42 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine;
June Kodiak, 42 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine;
Keith Lyon, 42 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine;
Trung Tam Dang, 42 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine;
Andy Kim, 42 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine.
I do not have a comment but I do have a question. What happens to the Title Agencies that the settlement people worked for? Do they or their owner(s) have any legal responsibility to fraudulent acts? I have read of repeated malpractice issues over the years and oftentimes the same agencies are involved. Yet the owner(s) appear to walk away unscathed. How can the same types of events occur more than once with the same agencies and yet the owner(s) know absolutely nothing? I just find that so hard to believe.
Thank you.
Posted by on 01/04 at 03:13 AM
Has this case come to a close.
if so what was the verdict
Posted by on 04/01 at 08:14 AM
what was the sentencing for the kodiak and siciliano?
Posted by on 09/30 at 09:18 AM
Has this case gone to trial? What sentence did Mary Diantonio recieve? And when does it begin and end? Is this a Federal or State offense?
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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
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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
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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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