short sale scheme

Guilty Plea in Short Sale Conspiracy

Rachel Dollar —  November 19, 2015 — Leave a comment

Dahianara Moran, 40, Methuen, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud for to participating in a conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts.

Moran conspired with others – including a Methuen loan officer and a Haverhill real estate agent who were not identified in the charging document – to defraud various banks via bogus short sales of homes in Haverhill, Massachusetts, Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Methuen, Massachusetts. Continue Reading…

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Loan Fraud Gets Minnesota Man 57 Months

Rachel Dollar —  November 17, 2015 — Leave a comment

Solomon Gordon Raymond, also known as Paul Anthony Raymond, 54, Golden Valley, Minnesota, was sentenced to 57 months in custody for lying to banks on a series of business loan applications he used to take almost $500,000.

In addition to punishing Raymond for his fraudulent crimes, U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez increased Raymond’s sentence for the lies he told during testimony at his May 2015 trial. During the hearing, Judge Benitez described the defendant as “one of the worst con men I have ever seen.” Raymond was taken into custody at today’s sentencing hearing to immediately begin serving his sentence. Continue Reading…

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Guilty Verdicts in Builder Bailout Scheme

Rachel Dollar —  November 13, 2015 — Leave a comment

Edward Khalfin, 58, San Mateo, California was found guilty by a federal jury of 12 counts of mail fraud and 11 counts of making false statements on loan applications. Robin Dimiceli, 53, Brentwood, California was found guilty by a federal jury of six counts of mail fraud and six counts of making false statements on loan applications.  The convictions arise out of a builder bailout scheme that provided financial incentives to straw buyers to get them to purchase homes that developers were having difficulty selling

According to court documents, from August 2006 through May 2008, two brothers, Volodymyr Dubinsky, 56, formerly of Folsom, California, and Leonid Doubinski, 50, formerly of Copperopolis, California, built, developed, and sold real estate in Carmichael, California, Sacramento, California, and Copperopolis, California. As the real estate market declined, the brothers recruited family members, employees, and associates with good credit to act as straw buyers for residential properties. The Dubinsky brothers have not been apprehended and are fugitives thought to be residing in Ukraine. Continue Reading…

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Real Estate Broker

Real Estate Developer Gets Prison Sentence

Rachel Dollar —  November 13, 2015 — Leave a comment

Michael David Scott, real estate developer, 51, Mansfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 135 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of over $11,374,201and to forfeit $7,413,712.  In June 2015, Scott pleaded guilty to counts of 32 counts of wire fraud, 14 counts of bank fraud, and 22 counts of money laundering. Continue Reading…

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5 Year Sentence in $2.6 Million Mortgage Fraud

Rachel Dollar —  November 13, 2015 — Leave a comment

Anthony Salcedo, mortgage broker, 34, Fair Oaks, California, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison for a mortgage fraud scheme. Salcedo was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy and four counts of mail fraud after a five-day trial in June 2015. Continue Reading…

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Special Servicer Asset Manager Sentenced for Fraud

Rachel Dollar —  November 13, 2015 — Leave a comment

Max Wagenblast, 35, Arlington, Virginia, was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for wire fraud in connection with a scheme to steal over $5 million from his company. Wagenblast was also ordered to pay a fine of $25,000.

According to the his plea, Wagenblast was employed as an asset manager for a Bethesda company (the company) that was the second largest Special Servicer of commercial real estate mortgages in the United States. As a Special Servicer, the company was responsible for administering defaulted commercial mortgage loans and the real estate securing foreclosed loans. The company performed this service on behalf of the REMIC trust that held the mortgage loans on behalf of the certificate holders of the trust. In its capacity as a Special Servicer, the company collected borrower payments and property cash flow and remitted them to the REMIC trust, which was responsible for distributing those funds to the certificate holders. Wagenblast oversaw both the loans and properties that acted as security for the loans serviced by the company, including the application and utilization of funds generated by the properties he managed. Continue Reading…

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Lender and Escrow Owner Sentenced to 84 months

Rachel Dollar —  November 11, 2015 — Leave a comment

George Kalivretenos, 59, Miami Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 84 months in prison for a wire fraud and money laundering scheme in which he defrauded borrowers of approximately $5.6 million. Kalivretenos was also ordered to pay $4.18 million in restitution as part of his sentence.

Kalivrentenos pleaded guilty on August 13, 2015. According to court documents, Kalivretenos operated and controlled Jasmine Capital and Jasmine Resources Capital Group, which were lending entities. He also owned and controlled two escrow companies, Escrow Services, LLC, and Escrow Title Services, LLC. Kalivretenos promised to lend companies and individuals millions of dollars after they sent a deposit of 10 percent of the loan amount to a third party escrow company. However, Kalivretenos concealed his control over the escrow company from borrowers. Once the escrow company received the borrowers’ deposits, Kalivretenos spent borrowers’ funds on personal expenses, including two Rolls Royces, a penthouse condominium rented at $18,000 per month, and hotel stays at the Ritz Carlton and Crowne Plaza. He also transferred substantial funds to overseas accounts. Continue Reading…

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Loan Originator Pleads to False Statements

Rachel Dollar —  November 11, 2015 — 1 Comment

David B. Pick, loan originator, 47, Bowie, Maryland, pleaded guilty to making false statements arising from a real estate closing.

Pick was a loan originator responsible for preparing loan applications, obtaining documentation to support the representations in loan applications, presenting loan applications to financial institutions for funding and working with financial institutions to close loans.

In 2005, Pick sought a $900,000 construction loan from a mortgage lender to purchase and construct a residence at 1206 Tilghmans Landing Way, Annapolis, Maryland.  The residence was to be constructed by Richland Homes, Inc., owned and operated by Timothy Ritchie, 44, Annapolis, Maryland .  Continue Reading…

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Mortgage Broker Sentenced for False Loan Application Statements

Rachel Dollar —  November 5, 2015 — 1 Comment

Valeri Kalyuzhnyy, 44, Citrus Heights, California, was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

On June 25, 2015, Kalyuzhnyy pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a loan application. According to court documents, Kalyuzhnyy, while working as a mortgage broker, bought two homes using the credit information of a straw buyer. The loan applications that were used to secure the properties contained numerous false statements regarding the buyer’s intent to occupy the property, employer, occupation, and monthly income. In order to support the inflated monthly income listed on the loan application, fraudulent tax returns were submitted. On July 17, 2007, Kalyuzhnyy gave the straw buyer a check for $29,000.

United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. sentenced Kalyuzhnyy. The case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jared C. Dolan prosecuted the case.

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Sentencing in Straw Buyer Fraud

Rachel Dollar —  November 5, 2015 — Leave a comment

Sean McClendon, 49, Elk Grove, California, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.

On October 18, 2012, McClendon pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit mail fraud for his involvement in a Sacramento, California area mortgage fraud scheme with Anthony Salcedo and Anthony Williams. According to court documents, McClendon and Williams recruited straw buyers to purchase four properties owned by Salcedo or his associates using kickbacks, false financial information for the buyers, and payments outside of escrow.

All properties involved were foreclosed by the lenders, resulting in losses of over $1 million.

In June 2015, a jury found Salcedo guilty of four counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12, 2015. On January 29, 2015, Williams was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.

United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. sentenced McClendon.  The case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Jean M. Hobler and Marilee Miller are prosecuting the case.

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