Thomas Gallagher, 68, West Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced on June 7, 2011, by Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford, Connecticut, to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for his participation in an extensive mortgage fraud conspiracy that defrauded lenders of approximately $4 million.
According to court documents, statements made in court and the
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The state’s lack of laws against real-estate and mortgage fraud and the huge run-up in home prices helped mask some of the bad deals.
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Cheddi Goberdhan, 57, Elmont, New York, a real estate attorney, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to five years in prison for his role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme involving loans totaling $23 million on over 44 properties in the New York area. Goberdhan received millions of dollars in illicit funds from the scheme, in which he worked closely with corrupt loan officers of
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Elviston Ramasir, 28, Manorville, New York, the former president of Home Free Realty, Inc., Long Island, New York, a real estate services company, was sentenced to 51 months in prison for committing two separate real estate fraud schemes, to which he pled guilty in January 2011. In one scheme, he stole approximately $1.5 million from an investor by promising huge rates of return on
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James Toufic Assali, 36, Irvine, California, the owner of a Costa Mesa, California-based mortgage refinance company and escrow business, is charged in a large fraudulent rate-lock loan modification scheme targeting mostly out-of-state and some elderly victims. Assali is currently sought by law enforcement officers. To date, known victims are residents of California,
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George Eggleston, 65, Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to six years and nine months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Eggleston had previously pleaded guilty to charges he committed mortgage fraud and had operated a mortgage foreclosure rescue scheme to defraud homeowners facing foreclosure. The court
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John Edward Pitlick, 44, Shoreview, Minnesota, appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier on June 2, 2011, and pled guilty to the indictment that charged him with mail fraud. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
Starting in April 2007, Pitlick represented that he would broker a loan from one South Dakota farming family
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Eric Rulack Farrington, 58, Irving, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 132 months in federal prison for largely orchestrating a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme in the Dallas, Texas area. Judge Lindsay also ordered that Farrington pay approximately $2.5 million in restitution and forfeit approximately $1.2 million to the U.S.
As
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Ralph Appolon, 30, formerly of Watertown, Massachusetts, a loan originator, the 12th and final defendant in a large-scale mortgage fraud ring, was sentenced in federal court for his role in fraudulent property transactions that were part of a larger mortgage fraud conspiracy involving 21 property deals and more than $10.6 million in loan proceeds. In February 2011, Appolon was
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Melvin Rohs, 65, Nevada City, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton to 33 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $533,976 in restitution.
On December 14, 2010, Rohs pleaded guilty to three counts of theft, embezzlement or misapplication of bank officer or employee and two counts of
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