Elleni Berger, 44, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti to three years in prison, followed by three years of probation, for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme.  

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Patrick Reidy, 46, Gansevoort, New York, a Saratoga Springs-based lawyer, was sentenced in Saratoga County Court to 5 to 15 years in state prison for a felony grand-larceny charge stemming from a mortgage fraud scam that took $2.37 million from unsuspecting clients. He was convicted in August 2010, after having pleaded guilty to the charges and agreeing to repay restitution over the next 10 years.

As sole operator of

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Hugo Oliva, 47, Miami-Dade, Florida, has pled guilty to mail fraud and money laundering charges in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 14, 2011, at 11 a.m. before U.S. District Court Jude Jose E. Martinez.

Defendant Oliva was previously charged on July 15, 2010. According to court documents and testimony, this investigation began

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Cheddi Goberdhan, 57, Elmont, New York, a real estate attorney, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin in Manhattan federal court to a seven-count Indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and six counts of bank fraud, in connection with a scheme that defrauded banks out of more than $23 million in home mortgage loans. Goberdhan made

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Elviston Ramasir, 27, Manorville, New York, the former president of Home Free Realty, Inc., a Long Island real estate services company, pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to committing two separate real estate fraud schemes. In one of the schemes, Ramasir stole over $1.5 million from investors by promising them huge rates of return on investments in properties that he promised to

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William Arthur Sassman II, 42, Sacramento, California, who looted the life savings of dozens of investors to bankroll his own lavish lifestyle and finance his own investments, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Sassman convinced people who had painstakingly saved for their retirement that he could make a lot of money for them. Instead he used their money for his fine clothing,

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Title Compliance, a company using a Las Vegas post office box that is sending notices to Nevada homeowners regarding property deeds, is the subject of an alert from the Office of the Nevada Attorney General. Title Compliance states it will acquire a copy of the homeowner’s deed for a payment of $157.00. It also states that, due to the large number of transactions, this would be the only

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Nathan Russo, 34, Johnston, Rhode Island, pled guilty before Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford, Connecticut, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud stemming from his participation in a mortgage fraud conspiracy.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Russo and others engaged in a scheme to obtain millions of

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Victor Cedeno, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven to five years in federal prison for his participation in a mortgage fraud conspiracy and for engaging in money laundering. In civil forfeiture proceedings, the Court ordered Cedeno to forfeit in excess of $1.3 million, which are traceable to proceeds of the offense.

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At a time when some homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages, so-called mortgage relief services have been more aggressive in offering loan modification help. Homeowners are warned of the pitfalls of these offers and a consumer alert was issued to make homeowners aware of new protections from the Federal Trade Commission.

Mortgage “rescue” services or load modification services often promise to deliver lower monthly payments and lower interest rates, aid in short

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