2014 Mortgage Fraud Risk Report Released

Rachel Dollar —  June 25, 2015 — Leave a comment

The latest Mortgage Fraud Risk Report reflects a 4% percent decrease in 2014 over 2013 that signals a halt in the gradually rising trend of mortgage fraud observed in the previous four years. The only type of fraud with increasing risk was property valuation, according to the report, which increased by 17%.   The report also reflect that overall, mortgage fraud risk has appeared to normalize and there is less overall real estate market volatility with stabilization of real estate prices and inventory across the nation.

The Mortgage Fraud Risk Report is issued by Interthinx, a subsidiary of First American Financial Corporation.

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Ex-UFC Champ Chuck Liddell Awarded $2M Against Escrow Company

 Posted by Rachel Dollar  onJune 25, 2015 In Mortgage Fraud
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Investment Advisor Pleads Guilty to Stealing $1.9M

Rachel Dollar —  June 25, 2015 — Leave a comment

Jasper Buck, 59, formerly of Westminster, Maryland and elsewhere including Sanford, Florida and Lake Mary, Florida, pled guilty to mail fraud arising from an investment fraud scheme in which Buck stole more than $1.96 million from clients.

According to his plea agreement, Buck worked for mortgage companies, but held himself out to investors as an experienced investment advisor.  Buck admitted that from October 2006 through at least December 2014, he told his victims that he was a representative of Portfolio Financial Group (PFG).  Buck told the victims that PFG would loan money provided by the victims to borrowers who needed funds quickly or were unable to obtain traditional bank loans and were therefore willing to pay a higher interest rate on the loans.  In fact, there were no such borrowers, and Buck used the victims’ money for his own personal use or to further his fraud scheme. Continue Reading…

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11 Year Scheme Nets 5 Year Prison Term for Arizona Man

Rachel Dollar —  June 24, 2015 — Leave a comment

Julio Cesar Esquivel Reyes, 41, Tolleson, Arizona was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay more than $568,000 in restitution  for orchestrating a mortgage fraud conspiracy that spanned 11 years and resulted in nearly $2 million in losses for mortgage lenders.  According to prosecutors, Reyes recruited family and church members, including two pastors, to commit mortgage fraud, eventually obtaining more than $3 million in loans. Reyes previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo:

“Mortgage fraud is a serious offense that has detrimental effects on the economy as a whole.  The facts of this case are especially egregious because the defendants used their affiliation with a church to further the crime.  This sentence and that of Pastor Tovar send a solid message that those engaging in such actions will be prosecuted and incarcerated.”

Matt Allen, special agent in charge for HSI Arizona, said: Continue Reading…

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Guilty Plea in Foreclosure Rescue Ponzi Scheme

Rachel Dollar —  June 24, 2015 — Leave a comment

Randy Poulson, 44, Woolwich Township, New Jersey admitted scamming distressed homeowners into giving him their houses and then soliciting fake real estate investments from private investors – secured by those same properties – that netted him more than $3 million in illicit profits.  He pled guilty to Count One of an indictment charging him with mail fraud.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court: Continue Reading…

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Judge Grants Injunction in Reverse Mortgage Scam

Rachel Dollar —  June 23, 2015 — Leave a comment

According to the Huffington Post, Chicago Cook County Judge David Atkins granted Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s request for an injunction against Mark Diamond in connection with the lawsuit she filed against him in 2009.

In the 2009 suit Diamond was accused of bilking elderly black homeowners out of more than $1.3 million through a reverse mortgage/home repair scam.

According to Madigan:

“For too many years, Mark Diamond defrauded the most vulnerable people in our society,” Madigan said in a statement. “He stole the financial security that these families struggled to build over a lifetime. It is deplorable that he got away with his scheme for so many years. The preliminary injunction provides a small victory for those who have already lost so much but will at least prevent additional people from losing their homes and savings to one of Diamond’s reverse mortgage scams.”

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Florida Lawyer Indicted in Short Sale Fraud Scheme

Rachel Dollar —  June 23, 2015 — Leave a comment

Richard Michael Colbert, Attorney, Florida, was indicted and charged with conspiracy to commit bank or mail fraud, loan application fraud, theft or embezzlement by a bank officer and money laundering.

The indictment alleges a short sale scheme whereby the owner of property negotiates with the original lender holding the mortgage to sell the property to a person whom the original lender believes is a bona-fide purchase but who is, in fact, a straw buyer.  The straw buyer, who is typically paid for used of his personal identification information and who is assured he will have no responsibility for the property or the new mortgage, negotiates a purchase price substantially less than the amount owed the lender. On the date that the short sale closes, a second sale of the property at an inflated price occurs to a second buyer.  Continue Reading…

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CEO Sentenced to Prison for Real Estate Investment Scam

Allison Tussey —  June 22, 2015 — Leave a comment

Akbar Bhamani, 61, Carmichael, California, the head of a Sacramento, California, real estate investment firm, has been sentenced to 48 months in prison for duping investors by promising that deeds of trust would be secured on properties in which the investor would be in no worse than second or third position and that the indebtedness on the property would never exceed 70 percent of the value of the property.

Continue Reading…

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Serial Con Man Arrested for Real Estate and Other Fraud Schemes

Allison Tussey —  June 22, 2015 — Leave a comment

David Garcia Herrera, 70, Torrance, California, a former special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, has been arrested on federal fraud charges for allegedly posing as an active FBI agent and helping a man who posed as a former federal prosecutor to defraud a man who enlisted their help in recovering money lost in two fraudulent investment schemes.

Continue Reading…

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Low Rates and HELOCs Set to Adjust, Homeowners Warned About Loan Scams

Allison Tussey —  June 22, 2015 — Leave a comment

With interest rates at an all-time low, many homeowners may be looking to modify their existing loans. Some home equity lines of credit, having been acquired by homeowners as long as 10 years ago, are due to be adjusted to higher rates over the next three years. For many struggling homeowners, particularly those underwater, securing a loan modification may provide the relief needed to avoid going into default.

Continue Reading…

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