Ali Forouzan, Mobile, Alabama, a former investor in the Alabama real estate foreclosure auctions industry, pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements.
Stephen G. Fields, 49, Chesapeake, Virginia, was sentenced to 17 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, false entries in bank records, misapplication of bank funds, and false statement to a financial institution.
Eric Ray Hernandez, 37, Bakersfield, California, was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii to 10 years and 10 months in prison for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme.
Jamie Bowers-Danielson, 35, and Matthew Danielson, 36, Ankeny, Iowa, were sentenced for their involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme.
Edmund Edward Wilson, 69, St. George, Utah, was indicted and charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with what the indictment alleges was a real estate investment scheme he ran through his company, Fountain Group of Companies of Utah Inc.
Mark S. Farhood, 49, formerly of San Diego, California, and Jason S. Sant, 38, Lecanto, Florida, were sentenced for their roles in operating a nationwide online foreclosure rescue scam that went by various names, including Home Advocate Trustees and Walk Away Today, and used various websites, including walkawaytoday.org and sellfastusa.com, to deceive hundreds of vulnerable, distressed homeowners into surrendering their properties to the company.
Tamara Teresa Tikal, 43, Brentwood, California, and Ray Jan Kornfeld, 57, Las Vegas, Nevada, were arrested for their roles in a continuing multistate scam that has defrauded distressed homeowners throughout California and elsewhere.
Todd Van Natta, Seymour and Columbus, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William T. Lawrence to 60 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to 10 counts of bank fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and two counts of tax fraud.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) analyzed Mortgage Fraud SAR Filings in Calendar Year 2012. FinCEN’s data on suspected mortgage fraud shows that reports declined 25 percent in 2012 (from 92,561 to 69,277) as compared to the previous year. However, suspicious activity is often only recognized and reported years after loan origination…[a]s a result, many mortgage fraud SARs are filed much later than the date that the suspicious activity actually began.
According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), approximately 69,000 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) specific to Mortgage Loan Fraud (MLF) in 2012 were received—a 25 percent decrease from those received in 2011.