Archives For November 30, 1999

Maria Antonia Franks Hernandez, Wyoming, Michigan, has been accused of defrauding the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) by fraudulently obtaining a mortgage, defaulting on that mortgage and leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab.

Franks Hernandez is accused of stealing her sister’s identity between December 2003 and February 2004 to fraudulently obtain an $83,000

Continue Reading...

A nine-month-long Mortgage Fraud Surge investigation in Florida has resulted in charges against more than 100 defendants and involves allegations concerning more than $400 million in loans procured by fraud and more than 700 properties. United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton is holding events throughout the middle district of Florida to highlight the announcement.

There are currently mortgage fraud-related charges pending against approximately 500 defendants in federal mortgage

Continue Reading...

Kosta Kovachev, 58, formerly a registered broker with the National Association of Securities Dealers, pleaded guilty this morning to one count of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud and one count of wire fraud stemming from his participation with Marc Dreier in the sale of over $100 million dollars in fictitious promissory notes to various hedge funds, as part of a larger

Continue Reading...

Ammar Dean Halloum, 46, Phoenix, Arizona, a former real estate agent, has pleaded guilty to felony charges in connection with a fraudulent real estate transaction with an elderly Tucson resident.

At a hearing before Judge Richard S. Fields in Pima County Superior Court, Halloum pleaded guilty to one count of theft/financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and one count of

Continue Reading...

Noel Albanes-Gomez, formerly of Miami, Florida, was convicted on Thursday, October 22, 2009, of conspiracy and mail fraud charges for his participation in a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for Friday, January 22, 2010, before the U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez. Albanes-Gomez and his co-defendants were originally indicted in January of 2009, as Continue Reading...

Sidney Okosun, 41, a Nigerian national residing in Washington, D.C., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. to 18 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for bank fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders. Judge Williams also ordered Okosun to pay restitution of $2,165,191. Continue Reading...

14 Bay Area residents have been indicted and charged with conspiracy to manufacture at least 1000 marijuana plants and manufacturing at least 1000 marijuana plants arising out of a wide-scale, sophisticated indoor marijuana cultivation operation in the Central Valley, California. The federal grand jury also returned a separate indictment charging five Bay Area residents with 26 counts of mail fraud in

Continue Reading...

Micah John Beaumia, 29, Alexandria, Minnesota, has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering for to concealing more than $400,000 in payments to himself and others from mortgage loan proceeds. He entered his plea in Minneapolis before United States District Court Judge James Rosenbaum. As previously

Continue Reading...

Barry C. Westergom, 60, Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud. Westergom faces a maximum penalty of thirty years in federal prison and a fine of $1million.

According to court documents, the charges arise out of Westergom‘s involvement in a scheme in which a co-conspirator, Juan Carlos

Continue Reading...

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. issued a consumer alert warning California homeowners to avoid individuals and businesses that charge up up-front fees for foreclosure relief services in light of a just-enacted state law that makes this “abusive practice” subject to prosecution.

“Over the past two years, unscrupulous attorneys and real estate brokers have abused their trusted roles and exploited desperate homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure,” Brown said.

Continue Reading...