A notorious Manhattan landlord who the state attorney general likened to Bernie Madoff is close to reaching a plea agreement on his mortgage-fraud case, his attorney said Tuesday.“We are working
Source: ‘Madoff of landlords’ close to plea deal in fraud case | New York Post
Angel Garcia-Oliver, 49, Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. He faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison.
According to the plea agreement, Garcia-Oliver was the principal of Garcia-Oliver & Mainieri, P.A., a law firm located in Coral Gables, Florida. Tribute Residential, LLC, which was owned by a co-conspirator, owned and sold multiple communities. Garcia-Oliver, or employees working at his direction, served as settlement agents and conducted dozens of real estate closings for condominium units owned by Tribute, including Cypress Pointe in Orlando, Florida and the Villas at Lakeside in Oviedo, Florida. Continue Reading…
David B. Pick, Bowie, Maryland, was sentenced to 5 months imprisonment to be followed by 3 years supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution of $383,178. He previously pled guilty to making false statements arising from a real estate closing.
As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, Pick was a loan originator respons Continue Reading…
They lost their bid for a new trial in the largest mortgage fraud case in Nevada.
Now federal prosecutors want a judge to order former real estate broker Eve Mazzarella and her ex-husband, Steven Grimm, returned to prison to continue serving lengthy terms behind bars while they appeal their 2011 convictions.
“The ‘substantial questions’ of law and fact they raised to be released from prison have been resolved by this court in favor of the government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Griswold wrote in court papers filed late Monday.
Cecil Sylvester Chester, 68, Mitchellville, Maryland pleaded guilty to charges arising from the fraudulent purchase of seven properties in Baltimore, Maryland, using fraudulent loan documentation and straw purchasers, resulting in losses of over $1.7 million.
“Mortgage fraud perpetrators steal by inducing lenders to make loans that will never be repaid, and they harm neighborhoods when the inevitable foreclosures drive down property values,” stated U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
Chester worked as an accountant from an office located on New Hampshire Avenue in Hyattsville, Maryland. Co-conspirator Andreas Tamaris, 44, Bel Air, Maryland, purchased, renovated, and then resold distressed row houses in Baltimore City, primarily in the Highlandtown, Maryland.
According to his guilty plea, from February 2008 to July 2009, Chester and his co-conspirators, including Alexander Sivels, II, 32, Baltimore, Maryland, found buyers for Tamaris’ properties and for other property owners. Chester persuaded individuals, who were inexperienced with residential real estate transactions and who lacked the funds needed to pay the down payment and closing costs, to purchase Baltimore row houses owned by Tamaris or otherwise located by the conspirators. Chester advised these “straw purchasers” that they didn’t need to contribute funds for the down payment or closing costs to buy these properties. Chester also advised that he would place tenants in the properties whose rent payments would cover the monthly mortgage payments after the transactions closed, and that Chester would collect the rent and make the mortgage payments.
Chester and his co-conspirators set the purchase price for the properties to exceed their actual fair market value, thereby generating excess proceeds from the transactions from which they could profit.
The conspirators provided false information about the straw purchasers’ employment, income and financial assets, as well as fraudulent supporting documentation to the mortgage loan brokers to enable the straw purchasers to qualify for home mortgage loans. The conspirators falsely indicated to the mortgage loan brokers that the straw purchasers each intended to use the property as their primary residence following the purchase. Tamaris and other individuals supplied the funds needed for the down payment and closing costs on each of the transactions, and were in turn reimbursed from the loan proceeds at settlement.
Chester brought the straw purchasers to the closing, and then caused the straw purchasers to falsely sign certifications in the closing documents affirming that they intended to use the properties as their primary residence and that no portion of the down payment and closing costs were borrowed. Following the settlement on each transaction in which they participated, Chester and the other conspirators received substantial payments drawn from the proceeds of the loan.
Few, if any, payments were made towards the mortgages. All of the seven properties which Chester was involved in went into foreclosure, resulting in a loss of at least $1,482,207.
Chester faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud, and for wire fraud. U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar has scheduled sentencing for March 23, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge Cary A. Rubenstein of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General; and Special Agent in Charge Brian Murphy of the United States Secret Service – Baltimore Field Office.
In a related proceeding involving two of the properties at issue in the instant case, co-conspiratorTamaris, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Sivels previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving the fraudulent purchase of at least nine properties in Baltimore. Both Tamaris and Sivels are scheduled to be sentenced on September 27, 2016.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI , HUD OIG – Office of Investigations and the U.S. Secret Service for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jefferson M. Gray, who is prosecuting the case.
Samuel R. VanSickle, 51, Accident, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud arising from three fraudulent bank loans in which VanSickle received proceeds from the sale of real property in Garrett County, Maryland, and Cheat Lake, West Virginia, totaling over $5.7 million.
VanSickle and co-defendant Louis W. Strosnider, III, 49, Oakland, Maryland, owned and developed property in Garrett County, Maryland. VanSickle used a number of different business names, including Freedom Church, Gospel Church, Equity Exchange, Unity Mortgage, Impartial Lenders, and Noble Forest Consultants, and aliases including “Donald Blunt,” “Jacob Aiken,” “Allen Helms,” and “Paul Walsh.” Strosnider operated Stony Brook Development Company, located in McHenry, Maryland.
According to his plea agreement, from December 2001 to May 2005, VanSickle conspired with Strosnider for Strosnider to fraudulently obtain real estate loans from banks in connection with the purchase of properties controlled through aliases by VanSickle. VanSickle concealed from the lenders his role as seller of the properties and recipient of the sales proceeds through fictitious identities such as “Donald Blunt, Trustee for Gospel Church,” “Donald Blunt, Trustee for Freedom Church,” “Equity Exchange,” “Unity Mortgage,” “Jacob Aiken” and “Allen Helms.” The scheme also involved fictitious down payments, inflated collateral, and false contracts.
For example, in 2002, VanSickle provided $600,000 for the purchase of Red Run, a restaurant and bed and breakfast which bordered on Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County, Maryland. In April 2003, VanSickle caused Red Run to be transferred for $0 to “Donald Blunt, Trustee for Gospel Church” – a fictitious church with a fictitious trustee. In February 2004, Strosnider signed a contract to buy Red Run from Gospel Church for $3 million. The contract recited a fictitious $750,000 down payment. Strosnider applied to a bank for a loan to complete the purchase of Red Run. When the bank required additional collateral, VanSickle supplied a timber contract for land in Garrett County with a valuation signed by “Paul Walsh” of “Noble Forest Consultants.” Both “Noble Forest Consultants” and “Paul Walsh” were fictitious. The settlement for the sale of the property was conducted by attorney Angela Blythe, 52, Oakland, Maryland. Blythe failed to collect Strosnider’s funds to close the loan. At VanSickle’s direction, Blythe paid over the sales proceeds of $1.6 million to “Unity Mortgage,” which was VanSickle. “Unity Mortgage” did not, in fact, have a mortgage on Red Run.Strosnider and VanSickle used similar fraudulent methods in Strosnider’s purchase from VanSickle of 5.87 acres on State Park Road, bordering Deep Creek Lake, and 116 acres of undeveloped land on Cheat Lake, West Virginia.
VanSickle received over $5.7 million in sales proceeds from the fraudulent transactions. Strosnider defaulted on all three loans. As a result of the scheme, the loss to the financial institutions was $2,755,102.50, the amount of the loans minus the recovery from foreclosure and sale of the collateral. VanSickle has agreed to forfeit and pay restitution in that amount, and forfeit his interest in 40 properties held in VanSickle’s name or in the names of nominees in Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, up to the value of $2,755,102.50.
VanSickle faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis scheduled sentencing for March 17, 2016, at 9:30 a.m.
The plea agreement was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Strosnider previously pleaded guilty to his participation in the conspiracy and awaits sentencing. In a related case, Blythe was convicted by a federal jury on October 9, 2015, after a nine day trial, of conspiring with VanSickle to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and two counts of making a false statement to a bank. U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles sentenced Blythe to a year and a day in prison, and entered an order requiring Blythe to forfeit $696,517 and pay restitution of $948,203.25.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorney Joyce K. McDonald and Philip A. Selden, who are prosecuting the case.
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:
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.
Kurt Sanborn, 48, formerly of Dracut, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 27 months in prison.
In May 2003, Sanborn used a private $500,000 loan to buy a home in Manchester, New Hampshire. In exchange, the private lenders received a first mortgage on the Manchester property which was recorded at the Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Registry of Deeds.
In October 2003, Sanborn asked a mortgage company for a $685,000 loan to buy a second home in Gilford, New Hampshire. The mortgage company agreed to finance the transaction if it received first mortgages on the Manchester and Gilford properties. To deceive the mortgage company, Sanborn caused a mortgage discharge that contained the private lenders’ forged signatures to be filed with the Hillsborough County Registry of Deeds. Sanborn’s conduct involving interstate wire communication and documents that were delivered by the U.S. Postal Service as part of the fraud served as the basis for wire and mail fraud charges.
Sanborn was also charged with bank fraud based on his conduct, in February 2004, in acquiring a $150,000 loan from a federally insured bank in exchange for a second mortgage on the Manchester property. Sanborn concealed from the bank the private lenders’ mortgage on the Manchester property.
In October 2004, Sanborn sold the Manchester property without disclosing the private lenders’ mortgage on the property to the new owners. He then used the proceeds of the sale to make a $185,000 payment to the mortgage company and to fully repay the $150,000 loan from the federally insured bank.
Sanborn pleaded guilty to the charges in May 2014.
The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney Donald Feith. The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service. It was prosecuted by AUSA Robert Kinsella.
Angela M. Blythe, attorney, 52, Oakland, Maryland, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and two counts of making a false statement to a bank. Blythe was also ordered to forfeit $696,517 and pay restitution of $948,203.25. Blythe was convicted by a federal jury on October 9, 2015, after a nine day trial
Blythe was an attorney licensed to practice in Maryland and West Virginia, with an office in Oakland, Maryland. She was a settlement attorney in real estate transactions. Continue Reading…
David W. Griffin, 44, Lutz, to three years in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud and making a false statement during a bankruptcy proceeding.
According to court documents, Griffin operated a foreclosure rescue scheme through his companies, Bay2Bay Area Holding, LLC and Business Development Consultants, LLC. The purpose of the scheme was to obtain quitclaim or warranty deeds from distressed homeowners facing foreclosure in return for false promises to rescue their homes from foreclosure by negotiating with creditors, renting the properties back to the homeowners to obtain rental income, and falsely promising that the homeowners could repurchase the properties from Griffin. To maximize his rental income, Griffin also prevented creditors and guarantors, including the Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration, from pursuing lawful foreclosure and eviction actions against homeowners who had defaulted on their mortgages. This was accomplished by filing, and causing to be filed, fraudulent bankruptcies in the names of the homeowners without their knowledge or consent. Continue Reading…
