William Arthur Sassman II, 41, Sacramento, California, who “looted” the life savings of dozens of investors to bankroll his lavish lifestyle and prop up a multi-million dollar real estate and business Ponzi scheme, has been arrested.
Sassman was arrested at his residence on a total of 100 counts: 43 counts of grand theft, 40 counts of misrepresentation or omission in
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Benjamin Serrano, 47, formerly of Parker, Colorado, the former director of sales for a Colorado real estate company that built luxury homes throughout the state agreed in court papers to plead guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, admitting that he and other company officials participated in a $16 million “builder bailout” scheme in which buyers of $1 million-plus homes were paid kickbacks if they purchased homes from the
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Brian K. Jackson, 38, Anaheim, California, was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury in Las Vegas on October 21, 2009, and charged with Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, Mail Fraud, and Wire Fraud. Jackson was arrested in the Los Angeles area, and appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge there and was released on a $50,000 surety bond. Jackson
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The State Bar of California has taken action against 5 more lawyers under investigation for loan modification misconduct, bringing to 14 the number of attorneys who have resigned or been placed on involuntary inactive enrollment since creation of the bar’s Loan Modification Task Force in April 2009.
Timothy Thurman [Bar #216048], 37, Altadena, California, resigned on November 2, 2009, with charges pending following
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Clarence Lewis III, 46, Houston, Texas, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole for running a mortgage fraud scheme. United States District Judge Lynn N. Hughes handed down the prison sentence.
As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud
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Martin Quoc Pham, 28, Garden Grove, California, has been sentenced to 132 months in federal prison for orchestrating two identity theft schemes in which he obtained personal information from hundreds of consumers and used the data in an attempt to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.5 million from home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and credit cards accounts. Pham was sentenced
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Visanio Eugene Vann, 47, Thousand Oaks, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge S. James Otero in Los Angeles to 95 months in federal prison for orchestrating an identity theft scheme in which he used personal identifying information taken from dozens of mortgage and credit files to fraudulently obtain credit cards that were used to purchase more than $1 million in goods and services. In addition to the nearly
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Kawana Latrell Melvin entered a first offender plea on October 19, 2009, in the Superior Court of Clayton County to felony charges that she unlawfully transacted mortgage business without a license, registration or under an applicable exemption; and made a false statement with respect to her eligibility to work in the Georgia residential mortgage industry.
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (“Department”) referred this
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Maria Antonia Franks Hernandez, Wyoming, Michigan, has been accused of defrauding the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) by fraudulently obtaining a mortgage, defaulting on that mortgage and leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab.
Franks Hernandez is accused of stealing her sister’s identity between December 2003 and February 2004 to fraudulently obtain an $83,000
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A nine-month-long Mortgage Fraud Surge investigation in Florida has resulted in charges against more than 100 defendants and involves allegations concerning more than $400 million in loans procured by fraud and more than 700 properties. United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton is holding events throughout the middle district of Florida to highlight the announcement.
There are currently mortgage fraud-related charges pending against approximately 500 defendants in federal mortgage
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