Howard Goldsmith, real estate developer, 41, Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced to a 30 month term of imprisonment for his role in a down payment fraud scheme. According to documents filed in Court, between August of 2006 and February of 2009, Goldsmith and his conspirators carried out a fraud upon various banks and lenders using entities Goldsmith owned or controlled, including Ganyard Farm Construction and Baldwin Estates. Continue Reading…
Scammers are trying to take advantage of struggling families by promising to buy homes for quick cash warns the North Carolina Attorney General.
These scammers send postcards and put out signs proclaiming, “We buy homes!” But rather than buying houses as advertised, most of these companies will try to convince you to sign over control of your home. The company then leases the property out to a new tenant. As a result, you lose rights to your home but remain on the hook for mortgage payments. Homebuyers or tenants can also be hit hard by these scams, which can advertise homes in deceptive rent-to-own agreements for big upfront fees. Continue Reading…
A former leader of a Haitian paramilitary force failed to persuade a judge that his mortgage fraud conviction in the United States was unsound.
Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein denied Emmanuel “Toto” Constant’s habeas corpus petition on Friday, saying the lead-up to his conviction—which involved a state judge’s sua sponte decision to vacate Constant’s plea deal in light of serious allegations against him for his acts in Haiti—did not run afoul of due process requirements.
Alleging a “miscarriage of justice,” attorneys for former NFL star Irving Fryar and his mother are urging a judge to either overturn a jury’s verdicts convicting the two in a $1.2 million mortgage fraud or grant a new trial.
Motions filed by the defense in Superior Court in Mount Holly late last week say the convictions came despite a lack of evidence and because of prosecutorial misconduct.
While on probation from a 2006 conviction for conspiracy to defraud HUD, Manjur Alam implemented another scheme to defraud mortgage-lending institutions. Between 2006 and 2008, he recruited and organized unqualified buyers to submit loan applications that included false representations, and submitted supporting documentation for the applicants that included false verifications of rent and false letters of credit. The buyers defaulted on the loans and the lenders eventually sold the properties for less than the original loan amounts. Continue Reading…
Charise Stone, 46, Ashburn, Virginia, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for her role in a real estate short sale scheme that included tax and mortgage fraud, and passing fraudulent financial documents. Stone was also ordered to forfeit $721,552, and ordered to pay restitution of $2,441,174 to the victim financial institutions and the IRS.
Stone was found guilty by a federal jury on May 27, 2015 in the short sale scheme. According to court documents, from 2007 to 2010 Stone targeted distressed homeowners who owed more on their mortgage loan than the market value of the home with false promises of financial recovery. Stone acquired distressed homeowners’ properties in her own name or under entities she controlled, made false representations to mortgage lenders in order to induce approval of the short sales, and then re-sold the properties—often the same day or the next—to new buyers at a price above the short sale amount, in violation of agreements made with mortgage lenders. Continue Reading…
Matthew Goldreich, 46, East Lyme, Connecticut, pleaded guilty in New Haven federal court to a false advertising offense stemming from his production and dissemination of false advertisements for mortgage modification services.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Goldreich used his New London-based media agency, National Media Connection, LLC, to produce and air television, radio, and Internet advertisements for the National Mortgage Help Center, LLC (“NMHC”), a shell company incorporated by Goldreich. The advertisements falsely claimed that NMHC could help struggling homeowners obtain home mortgage loan modifications. For example, one advertisement that aired in 2010 stated: “Attention homeowners. We know it’s tough out there. And while America’s homeowners are facing more challenges than ever before, the National Mortgage Help Center is ready to help.” The same advertisement also stated: “We may be able to lower your rate to as low as 1% and cut your mortgage payment in half. Our trained specialists know all the new regulations to get you quick relief. We help thousands of homeowners every day.” Continue Reading…
The Ohio Attorney General brought a lawsuit against the operators of a California-based loan modification scheme accused of taking thousands of dollars from Ohioans while falsely promising to help them avoid foreclosure.
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Calvin A. Townsend was indicted in a twenty-six count indictment, along with twenty other co-defendants, for participation in a mortgage fraud scheme headed by ringleader Bobbie Brown. Townsend, a licensed real estate agent and owner of Custom Home Service Corporation, was charged with bank fraud and mail fraud. He pled not guilty and, along with five other co-defendants, was tried before a jury. On July 8, 2011, the jury found Townsend guilty on all counts.
Townsend filed a petition with the District Court for the Northern Division of Illinois seeking to vacate, set aside, or correct the resulting 118 month sentence. He argued that he had ineffective assistance of counsel, exculpatory evidence was excluded, and argued further that there was a conspiracy to obstruct justice between his attorneys, the prosecutors, and the trial judge (the same judge hearing the petition to vacate.) The judge recused himself on the claims that he (the judge) had personally engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct justice and considered the remaining requests for relief. Continue Reading…
Delio Coutinho, 73, loan officer, Woodbridge, New Jersey was sentenced to 36 months in prison for his role in a large-scale short sale mortgage fraud scheme that caused millions of dollars in losses. Coutinho previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Continue Reading…