Rosita Vilchez, 39, a fugitive in Lima, Peru, until she was extradited to the United States in June 2015, pled guilty to leading a wide-ranging mortgage fraud conspiracy that targeted hundreds of victims in the northern Virginia Hispanic community. The mortgage fraud scheme, which operated between August 2005 and August 2007, generated nearly $7.4 million in fraudulent proceeds and caused losses of more than $15 million to lenders, most of which were federally insured. Continue Reading…
Archives For Virginia
Charise Stone, 46, Ashburn, Virginia, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for her role in a real estate short sale scheme that included tax and mortgage fraud, and passing fraudulent financial documents. Stone was also ordered to forfeit $721,552, and ordered to pay restitution of $2,441,174 to the victim financial institutions and the IRS.
Stone was found guilty by a federal jury on May 27, 2015 in the short sale scheme. According to court documents, from 2007 to 2010 Stone targeted distressed homeowners who owed more on their mortgage loan than the market value of the home with false promises of financial recovery. Stone acquired distressed homeowners’ properties in her own name or under entities she controlled, made false representations to mortgage lenders in order to induce approval of the short sales, and then re-sold the properties—often the same day or the next—to new buyers at a price above the short sale amount, in violation of agreements made with mortgage lenders. Continue Reading…
Teresa Wieringo Humphries, 60, Madison Heights, Virginia, the former head teller of the Lynrocten Credit Union, Lynchburg, Virginia, was sentenced on federal embezzlement charges for her role in a scheme whereby she, and the manager of the credit union, used unauthorized and fraudulent origination of loans in the names of credit union members to embezzle and steal funds from the credit union’s deposits.
George Kalivretenos, 58, Miami Beach, Florida, who allegedly stole $4 million in borrowers’ funds and lied to federal law enforcement agents, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and false statements.
Linda Sue Newcomb, 63, Madison Heights, Virginia, who was the former manager of the Lynrocten Federal Credit Union, pled guilty in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia to embezzlement, bank fraud and identity theft charges for her role in originating loans in the names of credit union members without those members’ knowledge or consent, including forging the member’s name to fictitious loan documents. Continue Reading…
Susanne Helbig, 50, Roanoke, Virginia, the former majority owner of a construction company who recruited a number of strawbuyers to defraud financial institutions of millions of dollars through an intricate mortgage fraud conspiracy, was sentenced in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg.
Julie L. Duffield, 45, Eureka, Montana, owner and operator of Professional Closing Company, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud concerning her role in an identity theft and straw buyer scheme.
Irfan M. Jameel, 52, Virginia Beach, Virginia, was sentenced to 108 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for committing wire fraud, bank fraud, and using of a false social security number.
Robert Timothy Koger, 48, formerly of Oakton, Virginia, the president of an international brokerage firm, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for conducting a wide-ranging set of fraud schemes involving the sale of several properties. Koger located legitimate buyers at fair market price, then he recruited straw buyers with whom he arranged the sale for considerably less than the legitimate buyers in exchange for a kickback when the straw sold the property to the legitimate buyer.
Susanne Helbig, 49, formerly of Roanoke, Virginia, currently residing in Georgia, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on a variety of fraud charges associated with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme involving straw buyers centered around properties on Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia.
