Archives For FHA Mortgage Fraud

Ignacio Beato, 46, Hazleton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James M. Munley to 51 months’ imprisonment, followed by three months supervised release for conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions through a financial institution, with funds that were the proceeds of wire fraud.

According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Beato, who was a licensed realtor, falsely represented to potential purchasers that he was authorized to sell vacant conventional and Federal Housing Administration insured mortgaged properties in Hazleton, when in fact, he did not have such authority. Between December 2013 and March 2015, Beato accepted $751,082 from individuals who believed they were purchasing properties.  Beato then fraudulently converted that money to his own personal use.

Judge Munley ordered Beato to pay restitution in the amount of $65,000. The reduced restitution amount was due to a number of factors including the fact that some victims were not able to be located and others have filed civil lawsuits attempting to regain their funds. The Internal Revenue Service also previously forfeited $35,000 from Beato’s bank accounts.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Homeland Security, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny P. Roberts prosecuted the case.

Franchesco Franco, 34, a former mortgage loan originator, Providence, Rhode Island, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his participation with a local real estate attorney and others in a scheme to defraud Flagstar Bank, by filing a fraudulent mortgage loan application and supporting documentation in the name of a person known to him who had recently died, in order to secure a loan in the amount of $157,102 for the purchase of a residence at 63 Wendell Street, Providence, Rhode Island.

According to court documents, after the mortgage was issued, Franco filed fraudulent documents in the deceased person’s name in order to have his own name added to the deed for the property. Loan payments were never made to Flagstar Bank, an FHA-insured lender, by Franco or anyone else. As a result, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) paid an insurance claim to Flagstar Bank for the unpaid balance of the loan in the amount of $165,062. According to court documents, a corporation formed by the real estate attorney, an alleged co-conspirator in this matter, later purchased the note for $35,000. Continue Reading…

Hector Hernandez, 57, Miami, Florida, the owner and operator of Great Country Mortgage Bankers (Great Country), a mortgage lender in Miami, Florida, was sentenced to serve 135 months in prison  for conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution for orchestrating a $64 million mortgage fraud scheme.  He was also ordered to pay $64,508,141 in restitution and to forfeit $8,000,000 in illicit profits.

In the same case, a real estate developer for Great Country, Aleida Fontao, 62, Miami, Florida, was sentenced to serve 41 months in prison, and ordered to pay $7,131,952 in restitution and $400,000 in forfeiture.  An underwriter for Great Country, Olga Hernandez, 59, Lake Mary, Florida, was sentenced to serve 51 months in prison and ordered to pay $24,512,755 in restitution.  Hector and Olga Hernandez both pleaded guilty on July 13, 2015, while Fontao pleaded guilty on July 7, 2015.  Hector Hernandez was the last defendant to be sentenced in the case.  All 24 defendants charged in this case, which included loan officers, loan processors and underwriters, were convicted of participating in the scheme. Continue Reading…

Hector Hernandez, real estate developer and owner of a mortgage company, 57, Miami, Florida; Aleida Fontao, co-owner of a mortgage company, 62, Miami, Florida; and Olga Hernandez, senior mortgage underwriter, 58, Lake Mary, Florida, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution in connection with an FHA mortgage fraud scheme involving federally insured mortgages that caused losses of $64 million to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Including these defendants, 25 individuals have pleaded guilty to offenses related to this scheme to date..  Hector and Olga Hernandez both pleaded guilty on July 13, 2015, while Fontao pleaded guilty on July 7, 2015.  As part of his plea, Hector Hernandez also agreed to forfeit $8 million, which amounts to his profits from the scheme.

Hector Hernandez’s mortgage company, Great Country Mortgage Bankers, specialized in mortgage loans that were insured by the FHA. Continue Reading…