Juan Rangel, 46, Downey, California, has been indicted on a series of fraud charges for allegedly running two related fraud schemes – a Ponzi scheme that took more than $11 million from more than 300 victims, and a mortgage fraud scheme that preyed on homeowners by stealing the equity from their homes and secretly taking title to their properties.
Rangel, who is already in
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Kenneth Perkins, 28, Groton, Connecticut, pleaded guilty before Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud stemming from his participation in a mortgage fraud scheme.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Perkins was a participant in a conspiracy to obtain residential real estate
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Bruce Fred Friedman, 60, the owner of a Sherman Oaks, California, company that promised investors healthy returns with claims of a successful business based on the rehabilitation of “scratch and dent” real estate was indicted on federal fraud charges that allege he operated a Ponzi scheme that took in nearly a quarter billion dollars.
Friedman, the operator of
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Tiffany Travis, 28, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, pled guilty in federal court to bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344. United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten accepted the plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed a presentence report prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Continue Reading...
Thusday, September 30, 2010, concluded the second of two Mortgage Fraud Summits held by representatives of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The first summit was in Fresno, California, on September 29, and the second in Los Angeles, California, on September 30. The task force is composed of representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement agencies.
In Fresno, the task force
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Steven Gutierrez, 58, Moreno Valley, California, was arrested without incident on September 29, 2010, by investigators from the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit, outside his workplace in Chino Hills, California. Gutierrez was arrested on felony charges of selling false securities and selling securities without a license.
In 2006, Continue Reading...
James B. Hayes, 57, Boca Raton, Florida, an attorney, pled guilty to a criminal information charging him in two counts of making false statements on a HUD-1 Settlement Form, a matter within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.
According to the criminal information and statements made in court during the plea hearing,
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A Mortgage Fraud Summit will take place on Thursday, September 30, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Representatives of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force will host the Summit. The interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force was assembled to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state
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Noting a sharp increase in home foreclosures, lenders were urged to work more aggressively with homeowners to stem the foreclosure tide.
Arizona foreclosures rose from 3,100 in August 2009 to 4,000 this past August 2010, an increase of 29 percent. During the past month, foreclosure sales accounted for 45 percent of the existing home market activity in the Valley. In Phoenix, Arizona, an estimated 51 percent of homes are currently under water financially.
In a speech to the
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Brian J. Moorman, a North Texas real estate appraiser, pled guilty to count four of the superseding indictment, charging wire fraud, aiding and abetting. Although the offense carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, Moorman, through the plea agreement, faces imprisonment not to exceed 27 months and agreed to
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