Archives For Florida

Man Sentenced To 46 Months In Federal Prison For Mortgage Fraud

Stephanie Abbott —  May 12, 2023 — Leave a comment

Johnny Fior, 48, Cape Coral, Florida has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for wire fraud and illegal monetary transactions.

According to court documents, Fior committed the fraud by engaging in two different fraud schemes. With the first scheme, Fior convinced two individuals, by false and fraudulent pretenses, to serve as private investors/lenders for short-term balloon loans that were secured by mortgages on real properties in Lee County, Florida. To accomplish the scheme and give the investors the impression that their funded loans were secured by real property, Fior fraudulently filed fictitious mortgage deeds, promissory notes, and mortgage satisfactions. Additionally, Fior provided the investors interest-only payments to further delay repayment of the loans and requested loan repayment extensions to further prolong the scheme. Fior diverted the investors’ funds for his own personal use and none of the funds were used for their intended purpose.

In the second scheme, Fior, in his role as a real estate closing agent, diverted funds intended to be used to pay off property sellers’ existing mortgages to himself during real estate closings. In furtherance of the scheme, Fior created and caused the creation of real estate settlement statements that falsely represented a seller’s mortgage was repaid during the real estate closing process. Additionally, Fior created fake and fictitious bank statements, lender correspondence, wire transfer records, cashier’s checks, deposit records, and shipment records that fraudulently represented a seller’s mortgage had been paid or that the mortgage pay-off funds were submitted. As a result of the second scheme, two separate title insurance companies suffered a total loss of approximately $977,330.23.  

As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $1,404,169.74, which were the proceeds of the wire fraud and illegal monetary transaction offenses. Fior had pleaded guilty on January 18, 2023.

 This case was investigated by the FBI. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Trent Reichling.

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Mortgage Loan Officer Convicted for Creating and Executing Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  April 12, 2023 — Leave a comment

Omayra Ujaque ,52, St. Cloud, Florida, has been found guilty of three counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to evidence presented at trial, Ujaque, in her capacity as a licensed mortgage loan officer, created and executed a mortgage fraud scheme targeting the financial institution where she worked. To ensure that otherwise unqualified borrowers were approved for mortgage loans, Ujaque falsified the borrowers’ income by fabricating or inflating the amounts of their monthly child support payments on mortgage loan applications that she signed and certified to the financial institution’s underwriting department. In furtherance of her scheme, Ujaque created fictitious Final Judgments of Dissolution of Marriage and Final Orders Modifying Child Support that fraudulently represented that the borrowers were entitled to receive non-existent monthly child support payments. Ujaque then used the names of judges from the Circuit Court of the Ninth District of Florida and forged their signatures on the fabricated Final Judgments of Dissolution of Marriage or Final Orders Modifying Child Support.

Ujaque also created bogus Florida Department of Revenue Statements listing fraudulent monthly child support payments, as well as phony prepaid debit card statements listing fake borrower withdrawals of the non-existent monthly child support payments. In most cases, the borrowers did not, in fact, have the listed children and/or had never been married. Ujaque submitted bogus paperwork to the financial institution to support the false monthly income on the loan applications. Based on Ujaque’s misrepresentations, the financial institution approved and funded the mortgage loans.

Ujaque faces a maximum penalty of 30 years’ imprisonment for each bank fraud count and a mandatory 2-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft county. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 5, 2023. Ujaque had been indicted on February 15, 2023.

This case was investigated by Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General, and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

 

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Man Sentenced For Bank Fraud Conspiracy

Stephanie Abbott —  April 12, 2023 — Leave a comment

Cameron Porter, 35, Plant City, Florida, has been sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to court documents, in March 2019, Porter conspired with Christopher Alholm and others to defraud an FDIC insured bank (“Bank 1”) with branches located throughout the Middle District of Florida. Bank 1 was a member institution of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. During the conspiracy, Porter obtained a victim bank customer’s (“Customer 1”) stolen Home Equity Line of Credit (“HELOC”) account number and personally identifying information (“PII”), including name, signature, date of birth and Social Security number from a co-conspirator, and passed that information to Alholm. Alholm subsequently used the stolen PII and impersonated Customer 1 at a Bank 1 branch located in Spring Hill to conduct a fraudulent $495,000 advance of funds from the Customer 1’s HELOC account to an intermediary account at Bank 1. After Alholm had completed the fraudulent advance of funds, another conspirator subsequently wired the stolen HELOC funds from the intermediary account to offshore bank accounts. Porter then received a share of the stolen proceeds for his role in the conspiracy.

Alholm previously pleaded guilty to his role in this case. In November 2022, he was sentenced to five years and six months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $5,000, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. Porter had pleaded guilty on guilty on January 9, 2023.

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General and Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

 

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Man Charged With Wire And Bank Fraud Offenses

Stephanie Abbott —  September 13, 2022 — Leave a comment

James John Melis, 52, Largo, Florida has been indicted on four counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft.

The indictment charges Melis with carrying out a mortgage origination fraud scheme against a financial institution for two properties he owned. To deceive the mortgage lender into believing he was a qualified borrower, Melis used the personal identification information of another person on loan applications, and prepared and submitted false and fraudulent IRS income tax returns, fictitious satisfactions of mortgages falsely representing that his properties had equity, and lease agreements falsely showing he received substantial rental income. As part of this scheme, Melis used the means of identification of other individuals and forged their signatures on the fictitious satisfactions of mortgage and phony lease agreements submitted to the mortgage lender. Based on Melis’ misrepresentations, the financial institution approved and funded both mortgage loans.

Separately, Melis abused his position as business manager at a private school in Tampa by attaching his personal bank account to the school’s PayPal account without authorization. When parents made tuition payments to the school’s account, Melis initiated fraudulent electronic funds transfers to his personal account. He then spent the stolen funds on travel and luxury items, such as jewelry.

If convicted, Melis faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud count, 30 years for each bank fraud count, and a consecutive mandatory penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft counts.  The indictment also notifies Melis that the United States is seeking an order of forfeiture in the amount of $1.1 million, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg made the announcement

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

 

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R.E. Agent & Her Husband Charged With Conspiracy & Bank Fraud

Stephanie Abbott —  August 3, 2022 — Leave a comment

Maria Del Carmen Montes, 46, Kissimmee, Florida has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, four counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Also charged is Montes’ husband Carlos Ferrer, 45, Kissimmee, Florida with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud.

According to the Indictment, Montes and Ferrer conspired to create and executed a mortgage fraud scheme targeting financial institutions. To ensure that otherwise unqualified borrowers she was representing as a licensed realtor were approved for mortgage loans, Montes created fictitious and fraudulent paystubs and IRS Form W-2s in the names of companies for whom her clients had never worked. The bogus income documents falsely indicated that her clients had worked at these companies, including companies formed and controlled by Ferrer, for a certain period of time and earned income that they did not. Montes submitted the fictitious paystubs and W-2s she created to the financial institutions who relied on them when making underwriting decisions. Additionally, Montes used her clients’ personally identifying information on these documents without their knowledge or authorization.

In order to further deceive the mortgage lenders, Montes and Ferrer recruited a co-conspirator working at a company listed on certain false paystubs and W-2s to falsely certify Verifications of Employment (VOEs”) sent by the financial institutions and instructed the co-conspirator to lie to the final institutions when they called to further verify the borrower’s employment. Ferrer and Montes sent the false and fictitious paystubs and W-2s to the co-conspirator so the co-conspirator could put the false information on the VOEs before certifying, signing, and returning them to the financial institutions. Ferrer also falsely certified and emailed VOEs sent by the financial institution in the names of borrowers that he knew did not work for his companies and lied to the banks during verbal VOE checks. Based on Montes’ and Ferrer’s misrepresentations, the financial institutions approved and funded the mortgage loans.

If convicted, Montes faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison on the conspiracy count, up to 30 years for each fraud count, and a mandatory penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft count. If convicted, Ferrer faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for the conspiracy count, and up to, 30 years’ imprisonment for each fraud count.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

 

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Mortgage Loan Officer Charged With Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

Stephanie Abbott —  May 23, 2022 — Leave a comment

Evelisse Hernandez, 40, Kissimmee, Florida has been charged with four counts of bank fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, Hernandez, in her capacity as a licensed mortgage loan officer, created and executed a mortgage fraud scheme targeting the financial institution where she worked. To ensure that otherwise unqualified borrowers were approved for mortgage loans, Hernandez falsified the borrower’s income through completely fabricated or inflated monthly child support payments on mortgage loan applications that she signed and certified to the financial institution’s underwriting department. In furtherance of her scheme, Hernandez created fictitious Final Judgments of Dissolution of Marriage showing the borrowers were entitled to receive non-existent monthly child support payments. Hernandez then used the names of Judges from the Circuit Court of the Ninth District of Florida and forged their signatures on the fabricated Final Judgments of Dissolution of Marriage. Hernandez then created bogus Florida Department of Revenue Statements showing the party purportedly paying monthly child support payments to the borrowers and manufactured phony prepaid debit card statements showing the borrowers purportedly withdrawing the non-existent monthly child support payments. In most cases, the borrowers did not have the children listed or had never been married. Hernandez submitted bogus paperwork to the financial institution to support the false monthly income on the loan applications. Based on Hernandez’s misrepresentations, the financial institution approved and funded the mortgage loans.

If convicted, she faces up to 30 years in federal prison on each bank fraud count and a mandatory consecutive 2 years’ imprisonment on the aggravated identity theft counts. The indictment also notifies Hernandez that the United States is seeking an order of forfeiture in the amount of $130,000, representing the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct.

United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg made the announcement.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General and the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

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Disbarred Attorney Sentenced Conspiring To Commit Foreclosure Fraud

Stephanie Abbott —  March 18, 2022 — Leave a comment

James Lee Clark ,61, Wilton Manors, Florida has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud and wire fraud.

According to court documents, from January 2010 through February 2017, Clark, who was a licensed attorney, conspired with his paralegal, Eric Liebman, to defraud mortgage creditors and guarantors holding notes on properties in foreclosure. Clark and Liebman falsely and fraudulently represented to distressed homeowners that they would negotiate with creditors and guarantors to prevent foreclosures in exchange for the homeowners’ execution of quitclaim or warranty deeds for the properties to an entity controlled by Liebman. Clark and Liebman also convinced the homeowners to pay rent or agree to sell their houses.  In order to continue collecting ill-gotten rents and/or profit from the property sales, Clark filed fraudulent bankruptcy petitions in the names of the homeowners to prevent the mortgage creditors from lawfully foreclosing and taking title to the properties.

Additionally, from January 2012 to February 2017, Clark defrauded his clients out of approximately $1.3 million. As part of his practice, Clark acted as a trustee for clients and held their money in various bank accounts.  Instead of using the funds for the purpose intended by his clients, Clark diverted the money into his law firm’s bank accounts, and used it for personal expenses, like gambling, travel, and automobiles.

Liebman previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud. He was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment.

Clark had pleaded guilty on December 14, 2021.

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Office of the United States Trustee for the Middle District of Florida (Tampa Division) provided substantial investigative support. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

 

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Paralegal Sentenced For Conspiracy To Commit Mortgage Fraud

Stephanie Abbott —  January 28, 2022 — Leave a comment

Eric Liebman, 34, Tampa, Florida has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud.

According to court documents, from January 2010 through February 2017, Liebman conspired with his co-defendant, James Lee Clark, to defraud mortgage creditors and guarantors, such as Fannie Mae, which held mortgage notes on properties that were in foreclosure. Liebman and Clark falsely and fraudulently represented to the distressed homeowners facing foreclosure that in exchange for executing quitclaim or warranty deeds for their properties to an entity controlled by Liebman, they would negotiate with the mortgage creditors to prevent foreclosures. Liebman and Clark convinced the distressed homeowners to pay them rent or agree to put their houses up for sale. In order to continue to collect ill-gotten rents, or profit from sales of the properties, Liebman filed fraudulent bankruptcy petitions in the names of the homeowners to prevent the mortgage creditors from lawfully foreclosing and taking title to the properties.

Liebman had pleaded guilty on September 24, 2019.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General. The Office of the United States Trustee for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, also provided substantial investigative support. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

 

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Seven Defendants Sentenced in $10 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  October 20, 2021 — Leave a comment

Carlos Rafael Castaneda Mendez, 34, Miami, Florida, Alejandro Boada Oliveros, 45, Miami, Florida, Jonnathan Jesus Gonzalez, 33, Miami, Florida, Yanjeisis Alejandra Pompa Villafane, 25, Hialeah, Florida, Lilia Rosa Morales Moreno, 45, Miami, Florida, Katherine Hansen Mendoza, 25, Miami, Florida and Isbel Rodriguez Batista, 23,  Teaneck, New Jersey were sent to federal prison for their roles in a fraud scheme that involved stealing identities, creating and using fake foreign passports, impersonating homeowners, and falsifying loan documents to trick lenders into providing millions of dollars of mortgage loans on unencumbered residential properties.

The scheme followed a general pattern.  First, the fraudsters would identify residential homes with no mortgages, and absent owners, located in high-end South Florida neighborhoods.  Next, using the names and other identity information of the true homeowners, the fraudsters created fake passports.  Alongside the homeowners’ names, the fraudsters placed photographs of co-conspirators.  Some of those co-conspirators appeared at loan closings posing as the homeowners.  The fraudsters used the fake passports to apply for mortgage loans from private lenders and to open bank accounts in the homeowners’ names — accounts into which lenders wired the loan money.  They used the stolen money to buy luxury cars, expensive watches, and other items.  In total, the scheme drained close to $10 million of equity from South Florida homes.

Carlos Rafael Castaneda Mendez was sentenced to 78 months, Alejandro Boada Oliveros was sentenced to 46 months, Jonnathan Jesus Gonzalez was sentenced to 44 months, Yanjeisis Alejandra Pompa Villafane was sentenced to 28 months, Lilia Rosa Morales Moreno was sentenced to 30 months; Katherine Hansen Mendoza was sentenced to seven months and Isbel Rodriguez Batista, was sentenced to 30 months.

Charges against other defendants are pending.  An indictment is only an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office; and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office made the announcement.

USSS Miami, HSI Miami, and Aventura Police Department investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hauser is prosecuting the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no.: 20-cr-20155.

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Businessman Sentenced For and Mortgage Fraud

Stephanie Abbott —  July 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

Casey David Crowther, 35, Fort Myers, Florida has been sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison for two counts of bank fraud, two counts of making a false statement to a lending institution, and two counts of money laundering.

At trial, a federal jury had found Crowther guilty of committing bank fraud, making a false statement to a lending institution, and two counts of money laundering on March 26, 2021, which were related to a PPP fraud scheme. Before the trial started, Crowther pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution, which were related to a mortgage fraud scheme. As part of the mortgage fraud scheme, Crowther created false bank statements to justify a loan he had used to purchase a nearly $1.3 million waterfront house in St. James City, Florida.

According to evidence at the trial, Crowther obtained a $2.1 million PPP loan by falsely stating that he had intended to use the money to make payroll and pay rent and utilities for his company Target Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc. However, Crowther intended to use the money to enrich himself and, once the loan was obtained, quickly used the proceeds to make a series of personal purchases including a nearly $700,000 boat and a $100,000 payment to a former business partner. Crowther concealed the scheme by providing false explanations for the expenditures to his bank, calling the boat “equipment” and the payment to his former partner “payroll.” Under the terms of the PPP program, Crowther did not have to pay back the loan if he used at least 60% of the proceeds on payroll. To falsely make it appear he met that threshold, Crowther created dozens of fake employees to whom he purportedly paid wages: by adding multiple family members to his company’s payroll, even though they did not actually perform work; and, separately, by creating 39 other fake employees, for whom he obtained fake identification documents — including Social Security cards — that he provided to his company’s Human Resources to be placed in the files of the “employees.”

The court also ordered Crowther to forfeit $2,739,081.21, $630,482.37, and a 40’ catamaran boat, which were the proceeds of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud and the mortgage fraud offenses.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Trent Reichling and Michael V. Leeman. Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Nebesky obtained the forfeitures.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

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