Kevin M. O’Connell, 35, Albany, New York pled guilty to a one-count information charging him with the felony offense of laundering of monetary instruments in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(a)(1)(A)(i), in connection with his role in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded financial institutions and other mortgage lenders of over $5.3 million in loans.
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Mark Strodtman, 52, Windsor, Coloarado, was found guilty of 23 criminal counts including, COCCA – Pattern of Racketeering (a class two felony; punishable by up to 48 years in prison if aggravating circumstances are met), Theft $15,000 or more 11 counts (a class three felony; punishable by up to 24 years in prison per count). Forgery – check / commercial instrument 11 counts (a class five felony; punishable by up to 6
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William Arthur Sassman II, 41, Sacramento, California, who “looted” the life savings of dozens of investors to bankroll his lavish lifestyle and prop up a multi-million dollar real estate and business Ponzi scheme, has been arrested.
Sassman was arrested at his residence on a total of 100 counts: 43 counts of grand theft, 40 counts of misrepresentation or omission in
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Benjamin Serrano, 47, formerly of Parker, Colorado, the former director of sales for a Colorado real estate company that built luxury homes throughout the state agreed in court papers to plead guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, admitting that he and other company officials participated in a $16 million “builder bailout” scheme in which buyers of $1 million-plus homes were paid kickbacks if they purchased homes from the
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Brian K. Jackson, 38, Anaheim, California, was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury in Las Vegas on October 21, 2009, and charged with Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, Mail Fraud, and Wire Fraud. Jackson was arrested in the Los Angeles area, and appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge there and was released on a $50,000 surety bond. Jackson
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The State Bar of California has taken action against 5 more lawyers under investigation for loan modification misconduct, bringing to 14 the number of attorneys who have resigned or been placed on involuntary inactive enrollment since creation of the bar’s Loan Modification Task Force in April 2009.
Timothy Thurman [Bar #216048], 37, Altadena, California, resigned on November 2, 2009, with charges pending following
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Clarence Lewis III, 46, Houston, Texas, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole for running a mortgage fraud scheme. United States District Judge Lynn N. Hughes handed down the prison sentence.
As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud
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Martin Quoc Pham, 28, Garden Grove, California, has been sentenced to 132 months in federal prison for orchestrating two identity theft schemes in which he obtained personal information from hundreds of consumers and used the data in an attempt to fraudulently obtain approximately $1.5 million from home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and credit cards accounts. Pham was sentenced
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Visanio Eugene Vann, 47, Thousand Oaks, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge S. James Otero in Los Angeles to 95 months in federal prison for orchestrating an identity theft scheme in which he used personal identifying information taken from dozens of mortgage and credit files to fraudulently obtain credit cards that were used to purchase more than $1 million in goods and services. In addition to the nearly
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Kawana Latrell Melvin entered a first offender plea on October 19, 2009, in the Superior Court of Clayton County to felony charges that she unlawfully transacted mortgage business without a license, registration or under an applicable exemption; and made a false statement with respect to her eligibility to work in the Georgia residential mortgage industry.
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (“Department”) referred this
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