Archives For Falsified HUD1

Man Sentenced to Prison for Short-Sale Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  April 8, 2021 — Leave a comment

David Litman, 41, the village of Foosland, Illinois, has been ordered to report to federal prison to begin serving a two-year sentence for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud in connection with a real estate short-sale scheme.

On Dec. 17, 2019, Litman pleaded guilty to conspiring with others, between 2008 and 2010, to defraud lending institutions in a series of short-sale transactions. Specifically, Litman caused false broker price opinions undervaluing residential properties to be submitted to financial institutions holding the mortgages of the properties, which he intended to purchase via a short sale. Litman submitted additional false documents to the financial institutions to induce them to approve requested short sales, including falsified listing agreements and proof-of-funds letters. The financial institutions, relying on the false broker price opinions, false real estate commission expenses, false listing agreements, and other false documentation, approved short sales of properties to Litman for payments that were less than they otherwise would have been likely to receive.

In addition, Litman caused the recording of false expenses, including false real estate commissions, on HUD-1 settlement statements documenting the short sales into which he entered. Litman also attempted to conceal certain of these false real estate commission expenses through the late issuance of commission checks.

Following the March 10, 2021, sentencing, U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid further ordered Litman to pay $279,900 in restitution and to serve two years on supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

“The defendant’s repeated acts of fraud over several years caused lending institutions to lose a significant amount of money,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Doug Quivey. “The defendant’s participation in the scheme thwarted the lenders’ ability to accurately value the homes involved and prevented them from recouping a greater portion of their losses on the homeowners’ mortgages. Fraud in any part of the mortgage industry ultimately costs both lenders and borrowers and can’t be tolerated.”

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine V. Boyle and Eugene L. Miller represented the government in the prosecution. The charges were investigated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

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Final Family Member Sentenced in Short Sale Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  March 22, 2021 — Leave a comment

Ana Cummings, 61, Davie, Florida, the last of six South Florida family members was sentenced today to a term of imprisonment, and ordered to pay a total of $1,342,928.77 in restitution, following her conviction by way of guilty plea in August 2020, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

During prior hearings, Cummings’s sons, Valentin Pazmino, 34, and Rene A. Pazmino, 36, were sentenced to 27 months and 18 months of imprisonment, respectively. Her daughters, Grace Pazmin, 43, and Diana Pazmino, 31, were sentenced to 27 months and 22 months of imprisonment, respectively. Her son-in-law Jared Marble, 43, Grace Pazmino’s husband, was sentenced to 16 months of imprisonment. All sentences were imposed by United States District Judge Jose E. Martinez following guilty pleas. Pursuant to their plea agreements, the defendants made a full payment of the restitution judgment prior to their sentencings.

According to court documents, various defendants participated in a series of ten fraudulent real estate short sale transactions in South Florida between May of 2012 and June of 2015. Cummings and Grace Pazmino participated in all ten of the fraudulent short sales. Diana Pazmino and Valentin Pazmino each participated in nine of the fraudulent short sales. Marble participated in three of the fraudulent short sales. Rene A. Pazmino participated in two of the fraudulent short sales.  In each short sale transaction in which they participated, the defendants made materially false statements to a financial institution in order to defraud it into approving the short sale. Specifically, the defendants executed short sale affidavits and affidavits of arm’s length transactions falsely attesting that the sales were between unrelated, unaffiliated parties. In reality, the sales were between and among the defendants, companies controlled by the defendants, and/or individuals recruited by a defendant to participate in the fraud scheme. Members of the conspiracy also executed HUD-1 Settlement statements misrepresenting that the named buyer made the required cash-to-close payment.  In reliance on these material representations, various financial institutions authorized property sales for amounts less than the outstanding principal balances due on mortgages they held on the properties, thereby incurring losses.

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Tyler R. Hatcher, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Edwin S. Bonano of the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) Southeast Region made the announcement.

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Miami Field Division and the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General Southeast Region.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 19-cr-20606-JEM.

 

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Two Plead Guilty To Conspiracy To Make False Statements To Banks

Stephanie Abbott —  November 22, 2019 — Leave a comment

Mordechai Boaziz, 68, Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Jonathan Marmol,41, Odessa, Florida have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make false statements to financial institutions.

According to their plea agreements, beginning around the summer of 2006 and continuing through August 2008, Boaziz and Marmol conspired with others to execute a scheme to influence the credit decisions of financial institutions in connection with the sale of condominium units at The Preserve at Temple Terrace, a 392-unit condominium complex. Boaziz was converting The Preserve from an apartment complex into a condominium complex and hired Marmol to market the units.

In order to recruit and entice otherwise unqualified buyers to purchase units at The Preserve, the conspirators offered to pay the prospective buyers’ down payments (“cash-to-close”). The conspirators then intentionally concealed from the financial institutions the cash-to-close payments made on behalf of the buyers.

In particular, the HUD-1 Settlement Statements submitted to the financial institutions falsely stated that the buyers brought their own cash-to-close funds to purchase the condominium units, which influenced the financial institutions’ mortgage loan approval decisions. In reality, Boaziz funded the buyers’ cash-to-close and routed the payments through Marmol and others. As a result of the conspiracy, the financial institutions that financed the condominium unit purchases at The Preserve sustained a total loss of approximately $5 million.

Each faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency–Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor and Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.

 

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American Home Free Mortgage Principals Indicted – EXCLUSIVE

Rachel Dollar —  August 30, 2019 — Leave a comment

Jason Alain Wu and Michael Andrew Kergosien were indicted in the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, on August 28, 2019 and charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud HUD and five counts of mail fraud, aiding and abetting.

According to the indictment:

Wu was the owner of American Home Free Mortgage, LLC (“AHFM”), a company that assisted homebuyers with obtaining financing, including interim financing, to construct and purchase a manufactured home.  Kergosien was employed by AHFM as a loan officer, director of sales, and director of operations.  MK Financial Services, LLC (“MK Financial”) and 1X Funding, LLC (“1X Funding”) were shell “third party companies” set up at the direction of Wu or Kergosien to receive fraudulent construction management fees as a means to recoup AHFM’s costs associated with interim financing without disclosing the true nature of the fees to the borrowers or HUD or obtaining the borrower’s agreement to pay the fees. Under HUD’s Construction to Permanent Loan Program, lenders who provide interim financing during the construction of a home are prohibited from charging a borrower additional fees unless the borrower signs a separate agreement specifically agreeing to pay the fees.

In or about November 2010 through at least September 2016, Wu and Kergosien caused AHFM employees to submit false invoices to title companies, on behalf of MK Financial and 1X Funding, that fraudulently charged a “construction management fee” and that concealed that the true purpose of the fee was to pay for undisclosed AHFM costs, including warehouse line fees on construction loans.  The MK Financial invoices stated “[m]ake all checks payable to MK Construction” which falsely represented the funds would be used for construction related costs. They also caused false entries on the HUD-1’s making it appear that the housing manufacturer was paying the construction management fee outside of the closing when the fee was actually included in the borrower’s purchase price and ultimately rolled into the loan. These invoices and false statements were concealed from HUD and the borrowers.

Between July 6, 2011 and September 10, 2014, Kergosien and Wu caused title companies to issue checks to MK Financial/MK Construction resulting in fraudulent payments of approximately $1,117,581 on approximately 126 FHA insured loans for over $12M; and, between July 15, 2014 and September 10, 2015, to issue checks to 1X Funding, LLC resulting in fraudulent payments of approximately $1,062,416 on approximately 99 FHA insured loans for at least $3.8M.

On August 10, 2015, Housing Wire reported that HUD’s Mortgage Review Board had settled allegations that American Home Free Mortgage had artificially increased mortgage costs by an average of $12,000 per loan through illegitimate fees paid to a company owned and operated by its sales manager.  In that settlement, AHFM did not admit fault or liability but agreed to pay a civil money penalty of $169,419 along with the permanent withdrawal of its FHA approval.

Yelp’s page for American Home Free Mortgage reflects that the company is closed. It received only one review – 5 stars.

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Mortgage Fraud Scheme Gets Attorney Sentenced

Stephanie Abbott —  April 18, 2019 — 1 Comment

Laurence Savedoff, Esq., 44, New City, New York, who was convicted of misprision of a felony, was sentenced today for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Between 2008 and 2009, the defendant represented The Funding Source (“TFS”), a mortgage bank, as the settlement attorney. The defendant’s law office was used to execute the closings for the eight real estate transactions for properties located in Bronx, New York, which involved efforts by five other individuals fraudulently to obtain mortgages that were insured by FHA on behalf of unqualified borrowers. For all eight transactions, the defendant caused the signing of the HUD-1 settlement statement and FHA Addendum to the HUD-1 knowing that the information therein was false.

Although he did not know the full extent of the scheme, the defendant became aware that others were using him to help defraud financial institutions. The defendant failed to notify authorities, including federal authorities, of these other individuals’ use of fraud to obtain funds from TFS. Furthermore, the defendant took affirmative steps to conceal the fraud by signing the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and FHA Addendum, or by having his paralegal sign them. Those documents were later forwarded by TFS, which he knew would be sent to financial institutions, including M&T Bank located in the Western District of New York. One duty of the defendant in his role as settlement attorney was to certify that the disbursements written on the HUD-1 accurately reflected the disbursements in the transactions. The HUD-1 and other financial documents were sent to financial institutions to show that the borrowers met FHA’s requirement of providing a 3-3.5% down payment. The defendant was aware that the borrowers in all eight transactions did not provide that down payment. Nevertheless, the defendant, or his paralegal at this direction, certified on the HUD-1 and in the FHA Addendum that the disbursements listed therein were accurate.  As a result of the aforementioned facts, financial institutions, including M&T Bank, purchased the fraudulently originated loans from TFS. https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/attorney-sentenced-his-role-mortgage-fraud-scheme

The total amount of the mortgage loans for these eight transactions was $4,800,007.

U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. made the announcement.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service under the direction of Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge, Boston Division, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brad Geary; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gary Loeffert.  Additionally, the New York State Department of Financial Services assisted with the investigation.

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Owner of Now-Defunct Real Estate Escrow Company Sentenced for Escrow Theft

Stephanie Abbott —  August 10, 2018 — 1 Comment

Lori Lynn Andrew, 49, Cashmere, Washington, the owner of Hartman Escrow, Inc., a real estate escrow firm was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for bank fraud.

Andrew stole more than $2.1 million through a variety of techniques, including making false entries in escrow closing documents, altering accounting records, and depositing checks into the general account instead of the trust account.

According to records in the case, beginning in about January 2011, and continuing until July 2012, Andrew used a variety of means to defraud financial institutions and individual home buyers and sellers who were involved in various real estate transactions.  Andrew made, or had others make, false settlement statements on closing transactions listing false or inflated fees and charges.  Andrew forged signatures on various statements and created false invoices, statements, and bills; she altered and deposited checks to her company account that should have gone to others; and she took client funds from her trust account and transferred them to her personal account for her own use.  Andrew used the money for casino payments, credit card bills, and other personal expenses.  Andrew defrauded individual customers, as well as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi Bank, Chase, and GMAC.  http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/?s=Lori+Lynn+Andrew

In all Andrew defrauded the financial institutions and other customers of $2.185 million.  In July 2012, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions arranged for a receiver to take over the Tukwila, Washington, escrow company after finding evidence of fraud.  Andrew had her license to act as an escrow agent suspended in 2013, and her license has since been revoked. The receiver was able to recover some funds for unsecured claimants, but just over $1 million is still owed to defrauded clients.

U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes made the announcement.

“This defendant chose to victimize people when they were buying or selling a home–often the most important financial transaction of their lives,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  “Like all real estate escrow agents, the defendant was responsible for ensuring large amounts of money went where they belonged.  When she decided to line her own pockets rather than do her job, she crossed the line and earned the prison sentence that the court imposed today.”

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said, “Every single time you had an opportunity to change your mind and say ‘this is wrong,’ you kept doing it.”

The case was investigated by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, the FBI, the Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and the Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG).

The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Hugo Torres. Mr. Torres is a King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor specially designated to prosecute financial fraud cases in federal court.

 

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short sale scheme

Guilty Plea in Short Sale Conspiracy

Rachel Dollar —  November 19, 2015 — Leave a comment

Dahianara Moran, 40, Methuen, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud for to participating in a conspiracy to defraud banks and mortgage companies by engaging in sham “short” sales of residential properties in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts.

Moran conspired with others – including a Methuen loan officer and a Haverhill real estate agent who were not identified in the charging document – to defraud various banks via bogus short sales of homes in Haverhill, Massachusetts, Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Methuen, Massachusetts. Continue Reading…

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Straw Buyer and Down Payment Fraud Guilty Plea

Rachel Dollar —  November 3, 2015 — Leave a comment

Antonio Pimenta, 47, Neshanic Station, New Jersey, admitted his role in a scheme that used straw buyers and phony loan documents to fraudulently obtain a $400,500 loan on a property in Irvington, New Jersey.

According to documents filed and statements made in court: Pimenta owned and managed Kelmar Construction Co. Kelmar built multiple properties in Irvington, New Jersey. These properties were sold to straw buyers utilizing fraudulent mortgage loans brokered by loan officer, Klary Arcentales, 47, Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and closed by settlement agent Linda Cohen, 57, Orange, New Jersey, who used fraudulent settlement statements to hide the true sources and destinations of the mortgage funds. The straw buyers had no means of paying the mortgages, and many of the properties entered into foreclosure proceedings. Continue Reading…

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Fake Remodeling Expenses Net Loan Office 14 Months

Rachel Dollar —  July 20, 2015 — Leave a comment

Joseph Brogan, St. Louis, Missouri, was sentenced to 14 months in prison and ordered to pay more than $350,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to multiple fraud charges related to a scheme involving applications for home loans.

According to court documents, Brogan was employed as a loan officer for USA Mortgage, Inc. where he handled both conventional mortgages and FHA loans.  Michael Wallis owned and operated a company known as Missouri Builders and Home Remodeling (Missouri Builders), which performed interior construction and remodeling work on houses.  Continue Reading…

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Closing Attorney Admits Down Payment Fraud Scheme

Allison Tussey —  August 8, 2013 — Leave a comment

Gabriel Serrano, 47, West Hartford, Connecticut, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford to conspiracy charges stemming from his role in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme. Serrano, an attorney, is a partner in the law firm of Serrano & Serrano, LLC.

Continue Reading…

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