Reunion Mortgage, Inc. and its former co-owners, David Thayer, and R. Kent Harvey, have agreed to pay $1.04 million to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims to the Federal Housing Administration in violation of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-33.
Seamus P. Dillon, 37, Ada, Michigan, was sentenced to two years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud. Dillon and his cohorts made a series of false statements designed to defraud the lender and obtained approximately $850,000, which they used for their own purposes.
Domingos Dias, 44, formerly of Trumbull, Connecticut, and currently residing in Easton, Connecticut, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme through the use of straw buyers that caused more than $3 million in losses to lenders.
Daniel Ira Colton, 64, Annapolis, Maryland and Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced to two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit extortion and to making false statements. Colton offered money, entertainment, mortgage payments, and monetary and in-kind campaign contributions to state and local government officials in exchange for favorable official actions, including assisting in the acquisition of surplus property and land from the county for development by Day Homes.
Stephen Mayer, 50, Miami Beach, Florida, has been indicted and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. Mayer allegedly bought at least 24 properties, reselling them (usually on the same day) to his “investors,” netting a profit of approximately $1,528,790.
Abbe Edelman, 50, Livingston, New Jersey, was arrested at his home by federal law enforcement officers on charges that he allegedly ran a real estate investment scheme that bilked victims out of $4 million.
Maximus A. Yaney, 37, and Jamie L. Bray, 36, both New York residents, were each indicted in Benton, Illinois, on one count of bank fraud and one count of wire fraud for their alleged roles in a mortgage fraud scheme wherein they used fake documents to persuade lenders to finance the sale of an apartment complex.
Randy Lee Wilkins, 48, Gilroy, California, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for carrying out a mortgage fraud scheme in Fresno, California.The defendant and his co-conspirators defrauded lenders by using fraudulent loan applications misrepresenting their income, assets, liabilities and intent to occupy the residences.
Henry Fecker, III, 60, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum to a superseding information charging him with one count of bank fraud. Fecker admitted that he obtained a $1.5 million bank loan in the form of a cash-out refinance by representing in his loan application that he earned a monthly salary of $102,083.
Ann Elizabeth Ursiny, a/k/a Ann Stone, 50, and Robert E. O’Connor, 63, have been indicted in connection with an advance fee scheme involving approximately 100 victims throughout the United States. The pair focused their scheme on prospective applicants who had poor credit or whose homes were underwater and represented that they could replace their mortgage with a new, smaller mortgage with lower mortgage interest payments.