Archives For November 30, 1999

Jack V. Smalley, 70, Colorado Springs, Colorado was found guilty for bank fraud related to a mortgage application with the Navy Federal Credit Union.

On June 25, 2015, Smalley submitted a mortgage loan application with the Navy Federal Credit Union indicating that he earned a salary of approximately $200,000 dollars a year.  At the time, Smalley knew that wasn’t true.  In conducting its due diligence, the Navy Federal Credit Union requested a pay stub that would show Smalley’s monthly income, a letter from his employer to verify his employment and salary, and a bank statement to show Smalley’s income deposited into his bank account.

Smalley took steps to falsify the requested information, including falsifying a pay stub and his employment letter.  Based on the fraudulent documents, the Navy Federal Credit Union approved Smalley for a $998,000 loan.  Smalley defaulted on that loan in 2017.   In trying to mitigate his loan, Smalley provided two more fraudulent employment letters in 2018 and 2019.   Smalley used the proceeds of the loan to purchase a $1.1 million dollar residence in Colorado Springs, Colorado.   As part of the proceedings in this case, the Court ruled that the residence is subject to forfeiture based on the bank fraud.

United States Attorney Jason R. Dunn made the announcement.  The Department of Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigations, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations join in this announcement.

“Lying to get a home loan is fraud, and the guilty verdict by the jury who heard this case made that perfectly clear,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn.  “Thanks to the hard work of our office and the law enforcement agents investigating this case, Smalley is now a convicted felon facing prison time.”

Smalley is scheduled to be sentenced on April 27, 2020.   The case was investigated by the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigations and Air Force Office of Criminal Investigations.  The trial was before U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico.  The defendant was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Sibert.

Gregory Gibbons, 54, Mobile, Alabama, was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution. The announcement was made today.

Between June 2008 and February 2009, the defendant conspired with others, including Alagi Samba, a realtor, and Daniel Badu, to devise a scheme to obtain eight loans for unqualified borrowers for homes in the Bronx, New York.  As part of the scheme, Gibbons acted as the mortgage broker and altered income and asset documents of the borrowers before they were sent to financial institutions.

For instance, Gibbons altered and created documents to make it appear that defendant Badu qualified for a mortgage on a property at 814 Faile Street, Bronx, New York. The defendant indicated that Badu was a research ophthalmologist and earned a specific income when in fact, Badu was not a research ophthalmologist nor did he receive the income stated on a loan application. Gibbons knew that these false loan documents were submitted to

The Funding Source, a mortgage bank, in order to secure a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Based on that false application and supporting documentation, the loan was approved. The Funding Source then sold the loan on the secondary market to M &T Bank, which wired funds from New York through the State of Ohio to purchase the loan.

The defendant and his co-conspirators arranged for additional fraudulent loans to be approved, including another loan for Badu, and caused wire communications to be transmitted in interstate commerce for those loans. These fraudulent transactions caused losses of approximately $4,800,007 affecting M&T Bank and other financial institutions including SunTrust Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, and Citibank. https://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/?s=Gregory+Gibbons

U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. made the announcement.

Gibbons was sentenced to time served by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $1,458,847.90 to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, CitiBank, and M&T Bank.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Joseph Cronin, Boston Division; the Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brad Geary; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Buffalo Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert.

Stephen Pirt, 37, Mountain House, California, was sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison for his participation in a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme. According to evidence presented at the trial for co-defendant Erik Hermann Green, 33, Roseville, California, Pirt and Green defrauded the New Century Mortgage Company by submitting false documentation about borrowers’ employment, income and assets, including fraudulent loan applications and other altered bank documents. On September 19, 2013, Stephen Pirt pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley told Pirt, “you were an organizer and leader of the scheme, and you need to be punished for that.”   The judge also explained the need for a proper deterrent effect.

Green is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Nunley on November 19, 2015. Green faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Anderson and Special Assistant United States Attorney Josh F. Sigal are prosecuting the case.

David Gotterup, also known as “David Gott,”, 35, Oceanside, New York, and Jason Green, 35, Oceanside, New York, were charged in an eleven-count indictmenet with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud homeowners who were attempting to modify their mortgage loans, and related mail fraud counts.  The indictment also charged Gotterup with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in connection with a scheme to improperly obtain mortgage loans, and related bank fraud counts, disaster loan fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Continue Reading…

Kenneth Sweetman, 34, Nutley, New Jersey, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme involving multiple properties in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  Sweetman previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court: Continue Reading…

Michael P. O’Donnell, 53, mortgage broker, Middleton, Massachusetts was convicted of one count of bank fraud after a three-day bench trial before the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock, United States District Judge.  Judge Woodlock scheduled sentencing for October 20, 2015. Continue Reading…

George Dravilas, real estate broker, 37, Medinah, Illinois, was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme involving a pair of Chicago apartment buildings.  Dravilas pled guilty in February to one count of bank fraud.  In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman ordered Dravilas to pay $463,110 in restitution.  Dravilas will begin serving his sentence no later than Sept. 21, 2015. Continue Reading…

Nicholas Tarsia, Jr., 67, Totowa, New Jersey, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiring to launder money as part of a $15 million mortgage fraud scam that used phony documents and straw buyers to make illegal profits on overbuilt condos.

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Dwayne Onque, 47, Belleville, New Jersey,  Mashon Onque, 44, East Orange, New Jersey, and Nancy Wolf-Fels, 58, Toms River, New Jersey,  were sentenced for their respective roles in conspiring to defraud financial institutions as part of a $15 million mortgage fraud scam that used phony documents and straw buyers to make illegal profits on overbuilt condos.

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Bruce Carlton Wright, 69, Norman, Oklahoma, was convicted following an 8-day jury trial of conspiracy and 11-counts of bank fraud. The scheme to defraud the IBC Bank of approximately $1.2 million dollars was in connection with property development.

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