Archives For Mortgage Fraud

A seven-count Indictment has been unsealed charging 12 individuals-including mortgage brokers, loan officers, and attorneys-with engaging in a scheme to defraud various lending institutions by using fictitious identities and documents to obtain more than $9 million in residential mortgages. All 12 defendants have been arrested and are expected to be presented in federal court.

The defendants are alleged in the Indictment to have played the following roles in the mortgage fraud

Continue Reading...

Heather Bliss, 34, Norwalk, Connecticut, has been indicted and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud. The charges stem from an alleged mortgage fraud scheme.

The indictment alleges that Bliss was employed as a paralegal for a real estate lawyer in Wilton, Connecticut and, in that capacity, had responsibility for preparing and

Continue Reading...

Viktor Kobzar, 32, Federal Way, Washington, the last of seven people charged in a $47 million mortgage fraud scheme pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud and Filing a False Tax Return. Kobzar faces up to eight years in prison and fines of up to $350,000 when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marsha J.

Continue Reading...

Myra Holmes, 52, Vallejo, California, was indicted by a federal grand jury with concealment of assets and bank fraud.

The indictment, which was issued on Sept. 23, 2009, remained under seal until yesterday morning when Holmes was arrested in Vallejo. Holmes made her initial appearance in federal court in San

Continue Reading...

Osman Sharrieff Al-Bari, 35, Washington, D.C., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz to 78 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for mail fraud arising from the fraudulent purchase of 25 properties in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Continue Reading...

Lisa Torres, 40, formerly of Johnston, Rhode Island, pleaded guilty to a $1.7 million mortgage fraud scheme in which she purchased properties that had recently been foreclosed upon, and then used the names of straw purchasers in sham sales to finagle mortgage financing.

Torres entered her plea before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi in U.S. District Court, Providence.

Continue Reading...

Jerry J. Jaquess, 67, Indianapolis, Indiana, was sentenced to 30 months in prison by Chief Judge David F. Hamilton for his participation in a large mortgage fraud scheme in the Indianapolis area. Jaquess plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Today’s sentencing follows a lengthy investigation conducted by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue

Continue Reading...

Lee Howlett, 45, Portland, Oregon, who had pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering, is set to be sentenced on November 3, 2009. As previously reported by Mortgage Fraud Blog, Howlett

Continue Reading...

Adriana Cruz, 27, Miami, Florida, was sentenced by United States District Judge Alan S. Gold on September 18, 2009, for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in the granting of two fraudulent home equity loans totaling approximately $1 million.

Cruz received a sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment and, following her prison term, 36 months of supervised release. Judge Gold

Continue Reading...

Richard Nazabal, 51, a Rancho Cucamonga, California, real estate agent, was sentenced to nine years in state prison and ordered to pay restitution to his victims as well as Franchise Tax Board. The total amount of restitution is still being determined.

Nazabal pleaded guilty to four counts of grand theft and one count of state income tax evasion.

The Franchise

Continue Reading...