Five of the eleven defendants charged in connection with a scheme involving straw buyers and the development of Seven Falls, a golf course and luxury residential community in Henderson County, North Carolina, have been sentenced to prison.
Grady Wayne Fricks, 65, Nashville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges arising out of a scheme to defraud Cornerstone Community Bank, Dalton, Georgia, using false appraisals, settlement statements and misrepresentations to qualify for more than a million dollars in loans.
First Tennessee Bank, N.A., Memphis, Tennessee, has agreed to pay the United States $212.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration that did not meet applicable requirements.
Provident Funding Associates is the subject of a consent order resolving allegations by the Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination. According to the order, Provident allegedly increased loan prices for African-American and Hispanic borrowers who obtained residential mortgages between 2006 and 2011 from Provident’s nationwide network of mortgage brokers.
Lynda Sanabria, 51, Rockwall, Texas, was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by six months of home confinement, for her role in a commercial bribery and tax evasion scheme. Sanabria admitted accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in return for selling mortgage loans to her preferred customers on the secondary mortgage market.
Paul Harold Doughty, 66, Edmond, Oklahoma, and Fred Don Anderson, 66, Eagle Point, Oregon, have been indicted and charged with bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, false statements to banks, and misapplication of bank funds in connection with First State Bank of Altus and various loan schemes. Continue Reading…
Bruce Carlton Wright, 69, Norman, Oklahoma, was convicted following an 8-day jury trial of conspiracy and 11-counts of bank fraud. The scheme to defraud the IBC Bank of approximately $1.2 million dollars was in connection with property development.
Ravindranauth “Ravi” Roopnarine, 55, Guyana, was indicted on charges stemming from his leadership and participation in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme, which resulted in the issuance of more than $50 million in fraudulent mortgage loans. The co-conspirators then used the proceeds to purchase additional properties, fund pre-existing fraudulent mortgage loans, and pay kickbacks to the straw buyers.
Maximus A. Yaney, 38, New York, New York, pled guilty to mortgage fraud and was sentenced by United States District Judge J. Phil Gilbert to 18 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Yaney made several misrepresentations and engaged in numerous fraudulent acts in order to persuade lenders to finance the purported $9,780,000 sale of one of the rental properties.
Charise Stone, 46, Ashburn, Virginia resident was convicted by a federal jury on 13 charges related to mortgage fraud, passing fictitious financial instruments, and tax fraud.