Luis Michael Mendez, 44, and Wilkie Perez, 39, both of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty to participating in a mortgage fraud scheme involving the sale of condominium units to straw buyers in the Miami area.
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Wasseem Shamoun pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for his role in a scheme wherein he and his co-conspirators purchased property then recruited straw buyers to submit fraudulent loan applications to lenders in exchange for a fee.
Muhammad Shafique, 44, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for trafficking millions of dollars in contraband cigarettes, laundering the proceeds through his South Jersey store and participating in a $2 million mortgage scheme in New York.
Din Chaney, 36, and Lisa Lipton, 50, the final two defendants charged for their roles in a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme operating in the Houston, Texas area have been ordered to prison.
Gregory D. Anderson, 47, Kingstree, South Carolina, was sentenced to 15 years prison, and his co-defendant Anthony C. Carrothers, 49, Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced to 10 months, for their involvement in a mortgage fraud conspiracy wherein straw buyers were recruited to purchase homes with inflated values in exchange for kickbacks.
Leonard E. Williams, 52, Sacramento, California, was found guilty after a six–day trial in a mortgage fraud case of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and two counts of money laundering. The trial was held before United States District Judge William B. Shubb.
Donald Keith Goff, 66, Laguna Niguel, California, has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a series of fraud schemes that include one in which he worked with his criminal defense attorney to fraudulently apply for millions of dollars of loans using a straw buyer.
Sofia Atias, 44, Great Neck, New York, Joseph Atias, 50, Great Neck, Nicholas A. Pellegrini, 51, Garden City, New York, and Paula Berckhoff, 34, Garden City, have been charged with bank fraud and conspiracy for allegedly defrauding Bank of America of over half a million dollars by avoiding foreclosure on a home through a fraudulent short sale of the property to a straw buyer.
Karl Oreste, 56, Miramar, Florida, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr., to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. The defendant and his co-conspirators operated a multi-million dollar straw buyer mortgage fraud scheme.
Robert Serao, 48, Bayville, New Jersey, who used his position as a loan officer of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc., to get the company to release more than $4.6 million on fraudulent mortgage loan applications was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his role in a $40.8 million mortgage fraud conspiracy.