Archives For Flipping

Duo Sentenced In HUD Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  November 1, 2019 — Leave a comment

Sergio Garcia, Sr., 50, Chicago, Illinois and Sergio Garcia, Jr., 30, of Lowell, Indianapolis were sentenced on their guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

According to documents in the case, between January 1, 2011 and May 31, 2014, the Garcias conspired with others to engage in a scheme to defraud HUD and to obtain money and property by means of false pretenses, representations and promises.  The scheme involved contracting with HUD to buy more than 87 homes in Indiana and Illinois and attempting to sell them for a profit the same day. The purchase contracts the conspirators provided to HUD stated that they or one of their businesses were purchasing the properties as investors and would pay with cash or use other financing not involving FHA. To support their claimed ability to pay for the homes, the conspirators mailed fraudulent letters purporting to show that they or their company had access to the funds needed to complete each purchase.  Many of the letters purported to be written by a private venture capital business and falsely stated that the Garcias or their business held a line of credit of up to $500,000.00, when in fact, as the conspirators well knew: the letters were forged and counterfeited; the lines of credit referenced therein did not exist; and the signatures thereon were forged and unauthorized.

Once under contract to purchase homes from HUD, the conspirators advertised the homes for subsequent resale and placed their own “for sale” signs at the homes. When the conspirators could not find a subsequent purchaser to buy the homes, they allowed their purchase contracts with HUD to expire and filed false liens on the homes for the full purchase price, impeding HUD’s ability to sell the homes to others. In some instances, the conspirators demanded money from would-be subsequent purchasers to release the false liens on the HUD-owned homes.

Garcia, Sr. was sentenced to serve 70 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $471,571.06 in restitution to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) and $3,862 in restitution to other victims of his crime.

Garcia, Jr. was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison followed by 1 year of supervised release and was ordered to pay $24,819.53 in restitution to HUD and $202.25 to other victims of his crime

“This sentencing serves as an example that when housing professionals defraud the system of rules sponsored by  HUD, the HUD Office of Inspector General will continue to partner with both the U. S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI to pursue those individuals to ensure the integrity of its federal housing programs.”

“If you attempt to defraud the system and violate public trust, we will find you, we will investigate you, and we will ensure you are held accountable for your illegal actions,” said Special Agent in Charge Grant Mendenhall, FBI Indianapolis. “Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to others that the FBI and our partners will continue to pursue those who would seek to blatantly commit fraud.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the HUD Office of Inspector General.  The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jill R. Koster.

 

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Man Charged In Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  June 26, 2019 — Leave a comment

Anthony Garvin, 49, Jersey City, New Jersey was charged in a superseding indictment returned June 25, 2019 for his role in running a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme that involved properties in Jersey City, Union, and elsewhere in New Jersey and caused losses of millions of dollars.

According to the documents filed in this case:

From January 2011 through November 2017, Garvin and others engineered fraudulent short sale “flips” of various New Jersey properties with mortgages that were in default, and also fraudulently obtained numerous home equity lines of credit, or “HELOC” loans, using fraudulent documents and information.

The conspirators allegedly arranged simultaneous fraudulent transactions on the same target property. In the first transaction, which involved the sale by the current owner, the conspirators convinced the financial institution holding the mortgage to accept the sale of the target property at a loss, usually to a buyer who was secretly a conspirator or an entity controlled by the conspiracy.

In the second transaction, the conspirators flipped the same target property from the first buyer to a second buyer, who typically obtained a mortgage from another financial institution using false loan applications, pay stubs, bank account statements and title reports provided by members of the conspiracy. The second transaction frequently closed for significantly more or even double the price of the first transaction.

Garvin and others allegedly rigged the short sale process at each step to maximize the difference in price between the two transactions and keep the victim financial institutions from detecting the fraud. The conspirators used various kinds of phony documents and misrepresentations, including generating false pre-approval letters from a New Jersey corporation controlled by a conspirator and generating phony deeds that backdated the closing date of the first transactions.

To obtain HELOC loans, the conspirators allegedly submitted loan applications in the name of straw borrowers, who did not in fact reside at the subject properties, and used false and fraudulent information – including false pay stubs and tax information – to make it appear as though the straw borrowers made more money than they actually did. The conspirators frequently applied for multiple HELOC loans on the same property nearly contemporaneously, withholding from each lender the existence of other applications.

The conspirators then disbursed the funds received from financial institutions – which totaled millions of dollars – into various accounts they controlled to conceal their illegal activities and split the profits.

The count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and each substantive count of bank fraud are each punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Garvin was charged with one count of bank fraud conspiracy and five counts of bank fraud. Garvin was originally indicted on one count of bank fraud conspiracy and one count of bank fraud on January 11, 2019.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito made the announcement today.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge James Buthorn, and special agents of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Steven Perez in Newark, with the investigation leading to the superseding indictment.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Feder and Zach Intrater of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.

The charges and allegations in the superseding indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Defense counsel: Murdoch Walker II Esq., Atlanta, Georgia; Charles D. Dawkins Jr. Esq., Elizabeth, New Jersey.

 

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Final Defendant Sentenced in $5.8M Flipping Scheme

Rachel Dollar —  January 4, 2016 — 3 Comments

Chiedu “George” Chukwuka , 47, Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced to serve nine years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,868,243.80 in connection with his lead role in a mortgage fraud ring that spanned five years and caused millions in losses.  Chukwuka, along with his co-defendants and other co-conspirators, engaged in a massive property-flipping scheme resulting in over $5.8 million in actual losses to financial institutions between 2006 and 2011. Chukwuka pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on August 10, 2015.

“At the height of the recent mortgage-fraud crisis, this property-flipping scheme caused scores of homes to fall into foreclosure, costing financial institutions millions of dollars in losses,” said U. S. Attorney John Horn.  “Many communities in our district have been decimated by mortgage fraud during the last 15 years and even now struggle to recover from the effects of these schemes.”

According to U.S.A. Horn, the charges and other information presented in court:  Chukwuka, along with his co-defendants and co-conspirators, recruited straw buyers to purchase homes at a discounted price, typically a bank-owned or distressed property.  The group then recruited a second straw buyer to purchase the same home at a dramatically inflated price. In turn, Chukwuka, his co-defendants and co-conspirators applied for an acquisition loan for the second straw buyer, supporting the loan application with false income, fake employment, and fraudulent net worth data.

The group profited from their scheme by pocketing the acquisition loan proceeds paid by the victim bank to the straw seller (who was the straw purchaser in the first transaction). The amount of profit was the difference between the price paid by the straw purchaser in the first transaction and the price paid by the straw purchaser in the second transaction, less transaction costs.  Since none of the straw purchasers made any significant loan payments, the targeted properties usually went into foreclosure, resulting in over $5.8 million in actual losses to financial institutions between 2006 and 2011.

“The sentencing of Mr. Chukwuka brings to a close a lengthy investigation and prosecution of a criminal enterprise that targeted the banking industry through their prolific mortgage fraud schemes.  Mr. Chukwuka, considered by law enforcement and prosecution to be head of this enterprise, caused extensive damage with high loss amounts to those victim banks involved.  The FBI is pleased with the role it played in bringing about this sentencing to federal prison of Mr. Chukwuka as well as the previous sentencings of his co-defendants in this matter,” said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.

The following five defendants also pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme, and were previously sentenced as follows:

  • Shelly Gee, a/k/a Shelly Baker, 48, Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced on November 10, 2015, to one year, six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,243,909.99. Gee pled guilty on June 17, 2015.
  • Sandra Petgrave, 43, Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced on December 4, 2015, to one year, six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,051,970.77. Petgrave pled guilty on August 18, 2015.
  • Kennedy Simmonds, 54, Snellville, Georgia, was sentenced on December 17, 2015, to three years, ten months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,868,243.80. Simmonds pled guilty on July 6, 2015.
  • Marcelle Welch, 37, Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced on December 17, 2015, to two years, three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,554,189.25. Welch pled guilty on July 29, 2015.
  • Leah Freeman, 43, Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced on December 17, 2015, to two years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,828.532.94. Freeman pled guilty on June 19, 2015.

The defendants were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr.

In a related case, Chinedum Oli, 42, Snellville, Georgia, was sentenced on February 19, 2013, by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Marvin H. Shoob to five years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $4,373,281.63. Oli pled guilty on October 9, 2012.

The cases were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jamie L. Mickelson and Steven D. Grimberg prosecuted the cases.

 

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Sentences in Georgia Real Estate Ponzi Scheme

Rachel Dollar —  September 30, 2015 — Leave a comment

Charles Wooden, 48, Stone Mountain, Georgia, was sentenced to seven years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and to pay restitution of $2.4 million. Hendrickx H. Toussaint, 44, a now disbarred lawyer, Decatur, Georgia, was sentenced to three years, ten months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and to pay restitution of $1.2 million.  The sentenced arise out of a real estate-based Ponzi scheme that took in almost $5 million dollars from out-of-state and foreign investors.

According to U.S. Attorney John Horn, the charges, and other information presented in court: In or about 2009, Charles Wooden, doing business as Aeon Capital Management, LLC, held himself out to the public as a real estate broker who could locate and oversee the purchase of residential properties and apartment buildings for or on behalf of real estate investors.  Wooden purported to find properties that could be flipped in a short period for a profit, and also properties that he would manage for the investors.  Continue Reading…

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Mastermind of Illegal Flipping and Equity Skimming Scam Sent to Prison

Allison Tussey —  May 12, 2015 — Leave a comment

Stephen Mayer, 51, Miami, Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison for his role in a real estate flipping and equity skimming conspiracy. The Court also ordered him to pay more than $3.1 million in restitution to the affected lenders, and more than $4 million in forfeiture, which were proceeds traceable to the scheme.

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Investor Receives 4 Year Sentence for Illegal Flipping Scheme

Allison Tussey —  April 29, 2015 — 1 Comment

Benny Chetcuti, Jr., 60, Walnut Creek. California, was sentenced to 51 months in prison, and ordered to pay $21,823,526.10 in restitution, as well as forfeit $3,968,995 in proceeds obtained from a multi-year real estate investment fraud scheme. Continue Reading…

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Real Estate Business and Principals Sued for Illegal Flipping Scam

Allison Tussey —  April 6, 2015 — 1 Comment

Tri-State Holdings-32, LLC, and principals Brandon Miller and Tony Caldwell, are the subject of a lawsuit for allegedly running a scam house-flipping business. The suit alleges that they quickly flipped homes and sought new buyers to purchase homes already sold to other consumers who had stopped paying. Existing homeowners often found that deeds had not been recorded in their name, offering no protection from the house being resold out from under them.

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5 Sent to Prison for Mortgage Scam Involving Falsified Settlement Statements

Allison Tussey —  March 24, 2015 — Leave a comment

Five defendants have been sentenced for their roles in a mortgage fraud conspiracy perpetrated in the Eastern District of Texas involving illegal property flipping, falsification of documents, including HUD-1 Settlement Statements, down payment fraud, and loan application misrepresentations.

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Man Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Allison Tussey —  March 11, 2015 — Leave a comment

Anatoliy Azarov, 33, Sacramento, California, pleaded guilty to mail fraud for a mortgage fraud scheme involving 24 residential properties. The defendant and his co-conspirator convinced investors to purchase their inventory of properties at inflated prices and used the excess funds as working capital to continue their business. Continue Reading…

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Attorney and Real Estate Agent Convicted of Bank Fraud

Allison Tussey —  February 17, 2015 — Leave a comment

Jason Springer, an attorney, and Rick Makohoniuk, a real estate agent, were both convicted of bank fraud after an eight-day jury trial. Springer was convicted of seven counts of bank fraud, and Makohoniuk was convicted of one count of bank fraud, in connection with a short sale/property flipping scheme.

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