Seven defendants, including an attorney, have been indicted for allegedly defrauding over 3,500 victims to the tune of $13.5 million in the largest loan modification scheme ever prosecuted in the nation.
Joseph Del Valle, 59, Aventura, Florida, an owner and partner of various investment companies, including Vanquish Acquisition Partners LLC and PM Capital Management LLC, which were based in Manhattan, New York, surrendered on charges of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy for operating a fraudulent scheme related to a Florida real estate development project.
Richard Dean Woolsey, 42, Grosse Ile Township, Michigan, was sentenced after being convicted at trial of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme. Woolsey and his conspirators disguised the source of down payments and provided false and inflated appraisals for properties, among other things.
Joshua Clymer, 28, San Francisco, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with his use of fraudulent tactics to help buyers secure home loans from lenders, including inflating income, falsifying employment histories, and giving undisclosed cash back to some buyers outside of escrow.
George Dravilas, 36, Medinah, Illinois, and Bridget Hutcherson, 40, Chicago, Illinois, were arrested on federal charges for allegedly engaging in a bank fraud scheme purporting to involve the fraudulent sale of two two-flat apartment buildings in Chicago. The charges followed a investigation of fraudulent mortgage loan transactions wherein an undercover agent posed as a mortgage broker who was engaged in fraud and was seeking assistance in structuring fraudulent mortgage loan transactions.
Six individuals, including a condominium developer and two attorneys, are facing federal charges for allegedly engaging in a $22.8 million mortgage loan fraud scheme. The defendants allegedly caused buyers to fraudulently obtain approximately 60 mortgages from various lenders to purchase condominiums.
Karl Oreste, 56, Miramar, Florida, Marie Lucie Tondreau, a/k/a Lucie Tondreau, 54, North Miami, Florida, Okechukwu Josiah Odunna, a/k/a O.J. Odunna, 49, Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, and Kelly Augustin, 57, North Miami, have been charged for their roles in an alleged scheme whereby they recruited and paid people to pose as borrowers to purchase properties.
Randy Poulson, 42, Woolwich Township, New Jersey, the owner and operator of Equity Capital Investments LLC, is charged with allegedly scamming distressed homeowners into giving him their houses and then soliciting fake real estate investments from private investors, secured by those same properties, that netted him more than $3 million in illicit profits.
Svetislav Vujovic, 41, Brunswick, Ohio, was convicted of 14 counts related to illegally receiving more than $3 million from the St. Paul Croatian Federal Credit Union in exchange for cash payments to the credit union’s chief operating officer. Vujovic corruptly gave cash payments totaling approximately $20,000 to induce and reward the CEO for approving and facilitating the approval of fraudulent loans.
Kelly Gearhart, 53, Wadsworth, Ohio, a real estate developer, pleaded guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges for bilking investors who put money into real estate projects. Gearhart told told investors that their investments—which he called loans and promised would be paid back with interest—were secured by specific lots when in fact they were not.