The two cases involving mortgage fraud in Ventura, California, name a total of 14 defendants, all of whom face potential sentences of hundreds of years in prison if they are convicted in the schemes that cumulatively helped unqualified and straw borrowers obtain tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent mortgage loans.
Peter Morris, a California licensed real estate broker, and other professionals working at Morris’ Team Realty Group, have been charged in a complaint alleges that, for the past three years, submitted bogus documents to banks to make their clients appear to be eligible for mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Authority or the Veteran’s Administration. The complaint also seeks a preliminary injunction that would shut down the allegedly fraudulent operation being run out of The Team Realty Group in Riverside, California.
The complaint, which is one of five civil actions filed this week by the United States Attorney’s Office, was filed pursuant to the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), which became law in the wake of the savings and loan crisis and gave the Justice Department flexibility to pursue civil penalties, as well as criminal charges, against individuals involved in mortgage fraud.
In a criminal case indicted by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana, California, the owners of a mortgage brokerage firm are accused of obtaining more than $30 million in loans by submitting hundreds of loan applications that substantially inflated the borrowers’ true income and assets.
A Lancaster, Californa man pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy and making false statements for his role in a scheme to defraud homeowners by promising to delay or prevent foreclosures on their homes and pay-off delinquent mortgages in exchange for the homeowners making payments and transferring title.
In addition to recently filed criminal cases that charge about three dozen defendants, the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office this week filed five civil lawsuits that allege mortgage fraud, including one case in which prosecutors are seeking an immediate order from a judge to shut down an organization allegedly engaged in an ongoing scheme that is defrauding the federal government.
Federal and local law enforcement officials have joined together to announce a series of cases that have resulted from coordinated efforts to target fraud in the mortgage loan industry. As part of a nationwide crackdown, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange Counties, California worked with local and federal investigators to bring criminal charges against a wide range of individuals involved in mortgage fraud, including borrowers, “straw borrowers,” corrupt real estate professionals, bank employees who help facilitate fraud, and those who prey upon distressed homeowners.
As part of its enforcement efforts, the United States Attorney’s Office is working collaboratively with a number of law enforcement partners to use all available resources and bring to justice as many criminals as possible. The arrests were made in two federal cases involving mortgage fraud in Ventura, California. The matters were initially reviewed by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, and the investigations grew to include agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General of, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Secret Service, IRS-Criminal Investigation, as well as District Attorney investigators.
“Over time, we have seen repeated spikes of fraud targeting financial institutions. Over the last decade, we saw one of those spikes as mortgage fraud blossomed with the housing bubble,” said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. ” When the bubble burst, in part because of fraud permeating the system, the effects were felt around the world. We are now sorting the through the wreckage to identify and prosecute the most egregious offenders. We are also targeting those who continue to exploit the system by fraudulently obtaining new loans or by bilking upside-down homeowners through loan modification and rescue scams.”
Ellon Lindsey, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office, observed: “Mortgage fraud hurts our communities, drives some homebuyers into foreclosure, leaves lenders with bad loans, and burdens neighborhoods with deteriorating and abandoned properties. Today, IRS – Criminal Investigation is pleased to be a part of the numerous investigations that have successfully attacked these crimes on a variety of fronts. Using federal laws that include wire fraud, money laundering and tax offenses, we are able to successfully disrupt these schemes and bring their promoters to justice.”
The court cases that have been brought and resolved as part of the ongoing crackdown are the result of the collaborative efforts of a number of law enforcement agencies, including the United States Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of Inspector General for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Secret Service, IRS – Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. Suspected fraud can be reported to the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Forces at www.stopfraud.gov. The Los Angeles Field Office of the FBI also takes reports of suspected fraud at (310) 477-6565.
I could say, “It’s hard to believe.” But then again it’s not. I’ve contacted every state, gov., and fed. agency and still very little next to nothing in help. I’m thinking the game is to ignore the homeowner complaints until statues of limitations expire. Fraud as I understand so far has no limits but I’m sure the judges will think of something to say case dismiss.
I can remember back a few years ago when I would read this blog and discuss the content how many people thought that I was over reacting when it came to my views of mortgage fraud (including some people here in my own office). They liked to tell me that it was a small problem and not something big. I’m glad that you and other people like you kept beating the drum on this issue. Maybe some people in the past told you that you were over reacting as well. Finally, the wheels seem to be turning on this subject. Chicken Little’s revenge. Ha.
Thanks, Rachel.