By Michael Braga Then it was the title agent who closed more than 40 of his fraudulent deals in Southwest Florida. On Tuesday, a federal jury turned its attention to the first mortgage banker to have pleaded guilty in one of the largest flipping fraud …
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Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Now, a Florida law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit against the former developer, alleging it “engaged in a massive real estate and mortgage fraud involving fraudulent real estate appraisals throughout Florida.” The lawsuit by Gilman Law LLP names …
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Source: Daily Commercial
Terry Scott Hyder, 51, Orlando, Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger to serve seven years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge. In addition to the prison term, Judge Reidinger also sentenced the defendant to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $789,649 in restitution.
In October 2010, a federal criminal indictment charged Hyder with one count of wire fraud. Hyder pled guilty to the charge in February 2011. According to filed court documents, the plea agreement and court proceedings, from about June 2007 through about July 2010 Hyder engaged in a fraudulent investment scheme which defrauded elderly individuals residing in Polk County, North Carolina and in Orlando, Florida, out of their savings.
To carry out his fraudulent investment scheme, Hyder established and maintained Sterling and Stratford, LLC (“Sterling“), a limited liability corporation organized in the state of Florida. Hyder convinced his victims to invest with Sterling by making fraudulent representations to his victims that Sterling was a legitimate business engaged in multiple investment vehicles that yielded high rates of return on short term investments. A total of nine victim investors were involved in Hyder’s fictitious investment scam.
Court documents indicate that Hyder, who met many of his victims in connection with Alzheimer’s support groups and other church-sponsored functions, told his victims to invest through “real estate trusts,” which he purportedly set up in the victims’ names. These trust documents memorialized the amount of money each victim provided to Sterling, as well as the alleged rate of return. After entering into these fictitious real estate agreements, victims were sent account statements which reflected the fictitious amounts of interest accrued.
In fact, victims never accrued any interest and no monies where ever actually invested by Hyder. Instead, Hyder used the money to pay for personal expenses, and made no legitimate efforts to invest any of the money on behalf of the individual victims. Hyder collected a total of $789,000 from his nine victims.
Hyder has been in local federal custody since he was arrested in August, 2010. He will be transferred into custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility, where he will serve his sentence without the possibility of parole.
Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced the sentence.
U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making the announcement by Chris Briese, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division.
The investigation into Hyder was handled by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Corey Ellis of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville.
A former self-proclaimed Carlsbad-based real estate consultant who fraudulently induced lenders to fund millions of dollars in mortgage loans to purchase real estate in Florida, Georgia and California was sentenced in San Diego Friday to five years in …CARLSBAD: Man sentenced to five years in prison for mortgage fraud scheme North County Timesall 2 news articles »
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Source: Patch.com
Michelle Austin-Wilks, 38, Parkland, Florida, was charged in an Information with four counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, for her participation in a mortgage fraud scheme. If convicted, Austin-Wilks faces up to thirty years’ imprisonment on each count.
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According to the Information, Austin-Wilks was President and Director of Direct Title & Escrow Services, Inc., Oakland Park, Florida. Austin-Wilks and others allegedly engaged in a scheme to enrich themselves by fraudulently buying and selling residential real estate property in Broward County, Florida, through straw buyers. These straw buyers obtained high value mortgages based on fraudulent mortgage loan applications and closing statements.
According to the Information, after the lenders approved the loans based on the false loan applications, Austin-Wilks prepared false HUD-1 Settlement Statements that, among other things, falsely represented to the lenders that the straw buyers were bringing their own money to closing. She also created and submitted duplicate HUD-1 Settlement Statements for the same real estate transaction to the mortgage lenders, reflecting different sales prices to the seller and to the lender. The lender’s version reflected a significantly higher purchase price than the seller’s version of the HUD-1 Settlement Statement.
After closing, the lenders wired a total of approximately $3 million in mortgage loan proceeds into Direct Title & Escrow‘s bank account, which was controlled by Austin-Wilks. Thereafter, defendant Austin-Wilks wire transferred $68,562 and $382,000, respectively, to a mortgage broker and a straw buyer for their assistance in the mortgage fraud scheme.
As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, the mortgage broker, Jinnie Mathurin, has pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced on March 7, 2012 to one year and one day of imprisonment, three years supervised release and ordered to pay $1.17 million in restitution by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks. The straw buyer, Guhier Florvilus, also pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 17, 2012 before U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Miami Field Office, and Florida Office of Financial Regulation, announced the charges.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service and Florida Office of Financial Regulation. Mr. Ferrer thanked the U.S. Marshal’s Service for their substantial efforts in locating defendant Austin-Wilks in Jamaica and returning her to United States to face charges. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Katz.
An Information is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Jinnie Mathurin, 42, Coral Springs, Florida, a mortgage broker, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks to a year and one day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In addition, the Court ordered her to pay more than $1.17 million in restitution. Mathurin had previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, defendant Mathurin was a mortgage broker licensed by the State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation. Mathurin and others engaged in a scheme to enrich themselves by fraudulently causing Broward County real estate to be bought and sold through straw buyers who obtained high value mortgages based upon fraudulent mortgage loan applications and closing statements.
Furthermore, the defendant and others submitted documents to the mortgage lenders reflecting a significantly inflated price for the properties than the true value of the properties. Based on the false documents submitted to financial institutions, mortgage lenders issued approximately $2,835,000 in loans to the defendants and others.
Defendant Guhier Florvilus, a straw buyer in the same mortgage fraud scheme, pled guilty on to one count of wire fraud on November 3, 2011, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 14, 2012. Defendant Michelle Austin-Wilks, the owner and operator of a title company allegedly involved in the scheme, was charged by criminal complaint with wire fraud on February 9, 2012. Both Florvilus and Austin-Wilks face up to thirty years’ imprisonment on the wire fraud charges.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Miami Field Office, and Tom Grady, Commissioner, State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, announced the sentencing.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Secret Service and Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Katz.
A Coral Springs woman was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison Wednesday for her role in a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme, court records show. Jinnie Mathurin, 42, was also ordered to pay more than $1.17 million in restitution.Florida Woman Heading to Prison Mortgage Dailyall 4 news articles »
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Source: Sun-Sentinel
By Brenda Gazzar, Staff Writer A man who had his wedding paid for by a charitable foundation has been accused of fraud in California and Florida, according to court documents and other information obtained by Star News. Not only was Manuel Sosa, 44, …
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Source: San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Joseph Guaracino, a former Plantation, Florida, Police Department Officer, has been sentenced for his role in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders. U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn sentenced Guaracino to 43 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Guaracino was also ordered to pay $2,969,439.00 in mandatory restitution to financial institutions. Guaracino was immediately remanded and taken into custody by the United States Marshals Service.
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In November 2011, Guaracino pled guilty to a one count Information that charged him with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. His plea came after his trial on multiple counts of mail and wire fraud and false statement counts resulted in a mistrial in September 2011.
According to the charges and other documents filed with the court in connection with the plea, Joseph Guaracino engaged in a scheme to defraud mortgage lending institutions by making false statements in mortgage applications regarding income and occupancy. Many of the homes purchased by Joseph Guaracino were flipped for a profit, but a substantial number went into foreclosure.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Tom Grady, Commissioner, State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, and Addy Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Miami Field Office, announced the sentencing.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, and FDLE. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laurie E. Rucoba and Jared M. Strauss, and Senior Litigation Counsel Michael Patrick Sullivan.
Orlando Sentine lBy Paula McMahon, Sun Sentinel A former Plantation police officer was sentenced to three years and seven months in federal prison on Friday and ordered to pay close to $3 million in restitution for his role in a South Florida mortgage fraud.Ex-cop in Plantation gets 3-plus years in mortgage fraud MiamiHerald.comFormer Plantation Cop Gets 3 Years Plus For Mortgage Fraud CBS Localall 15 news articles »
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Source: Orlando Sentinel
