Archives For false employment

George Kritopoulos, 50, Salem, Massachusetts, a real estate developer was sentenced to four years in prison today in connection with a decade-long mortgage fraud scheme involving at least two dozen loan transactions, totaling $6.5 million that resulted in more than $3.8 million in losses to lenders.

Kritopoulos was originally charged in September 2018 along with co-defendants Joseph Bates III and David Plunkett.

From 2006 through 2015, Kritopoulos, Bates and others engaged in a scheme to defraud banks and other financial institutions by causing false information to be submitted to those institutions on behalf of borrowers – people recruited to purchase properties – located primarily in Salem. The properties were usually multi-family buildings with two-to-four units, which the conspirators then converted into condominiums. Kritopoulos recruited new borrowers to purchase the individual condominium units, which were also financed by mortgage loans obtained by fraud.

The false information submitted to lenders included, among other things, representations concerning the borrowers’ employment, income, assets and intent to occupy the property. Specifically, the false employment information included representations that borrowers were employed by entities that were, in fact, shell companies “owned” by Kritopoulos and were used to advance the fraudulent scheme. The employment information also included false representations about the income that the borrowers received from the entities, when, in fact, the borrowers received little or no income from them. Kritopoulos brought newly recruited borrowers to Plunkett, who then prepared tax returns that contained false and inflated income. Some of those tax returns were submitted to lenders in support of the fraudulent loan applications.

Since the borrowers did not have the financial ability to repay the loans, in all but two instances among 21 properties, they defaulted on their loan payments, resulting in foreclosures and losses to the lenders.

In addition, Kritopoulos sought to obstruct the federal criminal investigation into the mortgage fraud scheme by encouraging Bates and Plunkett to make false statements and create false documents he hoped would make the companies appear to have been legitimate.

Kritopoulos was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris to four years in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. The judge reserved determination on an order of restitution. On May 27, 2022, Kritopoulos was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, six counts of bank fraud, one count of aiding the preparation of a false income tax return and one count of obstruction of justice.

Bates pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution and two counts of bank fraud in October 2018 and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1, 2022. Plunkett pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aiding in the submission of false tax returns in February 2019 and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 14, 2022

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Boston Office; and Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Northeastern Regional Office made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Salem Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild, of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit, and Brian M. LaMacchia, of Rollins’ Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit prosecuted the case.

Maria Del Carmen Montes, 46, Kissimmee, Florida has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, four counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Also charged is Montes’ husband Carlos Ferrer, 45, Kissimmee, Florida with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud.

According to the Indictment, Montes and Ferrer conspired to create and executed a mortgage fraud scheme targeting financial institutions. To ensure that otherwise unqualified borrowers she was representing as a licensed realtor were approved for mortgage loans, Montes created fictitious and fraudulent paystubs and IRS Form W-2s in the names of companies for whom her clients had never worked. The bogus income documents falsely indicated that her clients had worked at these companies, including companies formed and controlled by Ferrer, for a certain period of time and earned income that they did not. Montes submitted the fictitious paystubs and W-2s she created to the financial institutions who relied on them when making underwriting decisions. Additionally, Montes used her clients’ personally identifying information on these documents without their knowledge or authorization.

In order to further deceive the mortgage lenders, Montes and Ferrer recruited a co-conspirator working at a company listed on certain false paystubs and W-2s to falsely certify Verifications of Employment (VOEs”) sent by the financial institutions and instructed the co-conspirator to lie to the final institutions when they called to further verify the borrower’s employment. Ferrer and Montes sent the false and fictitious paystubs and W-2s to the co-conspirator so the co-conspirator could put the false information on the VOEs before certifying, signing, and returning them to the financial institutions. Ferrer also falsely certified and emailed VOEs sent by the financial institution in the names of borrowers that he knew did not work for his companies and lied to the banks during verbal VOE checks. Based on Montes’ and Ferrer’s misrepresentations, the financial institutions approved and funded the mortgage loans.

If convicted, Montes faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison on the conspiracy count, up to 30 years for each fraud count, and a mandatory penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft count. If convicted, Ferrer faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for the conspiracy count, and up to, 30 years’ imprisonment for each fraud count.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  It will be prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Chris Poor.

 

Andrzej Lajewski, 53, formerly of Wheeling, Illinois, a real estate developer, who owned Des Plaines-based Highland Consulting Corp., and Chicago-based Quality Management and Remodeling Inc., has been indicted with three others for allegedly participating in a mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded financial institutions out of at least $3 million.

According to an indictment returned Jan. 28, 2021, Lajewski schemed with two mortgage professionals and the owner of a remodeling company to fraudulently obtain at least $3 million in mortgage loans by making and causing to be made materially false representations to financial institutions regarding the buyers’ qualifications for the loans. The false representations concerned the buyers’ employment history, income, assets, source of down payment, and intention to occupy the properties, the indictment states.  In some instances Lajewski fraudulently claimed to lenders that the buyers were employed by his companies – even though he knew that was untrue – to help the buyers qualify for the mortgage loans, the indictment states.

The alleged fraud scheme lasted from 2010 to 2016 and involved numerous properties on the South Side of Chicago.

The indictment charges multiple counts of financial institution fraud against Lajewski, and two mortgage professionals – loan originator Agnieszka Siekowski, 46, Northbrook, Illinois and loan processor Aldona Bobrowicz, 45, Arlington Heights, Illinois and the home remodeler, Andrzej Bukowski, 66, formerly of Wheeling, Illinois.  Arraignments for Siekowski and Bobrowicz are scheduled for Friday at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold.  Arraignments for Lajewski and Bukowski have not yet been scheduled.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Brad Geary, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kalia Coleman and Jason Yonan.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Each count of financial institution fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

 

Angela Grace Cotton, 46, Lawrence Edward Cotton, 52, Denaysha Coleman, 26, and Latrese Gevon Breaux, 26, California, have been charged today with running a sophisticated real estate scheme that resulted in the theft of more than $1.4 million.

From July 2014 through September 2016, Angela Cotton, assisted by her co-defendants, allegedly used fictitious escrow and title companies that she had created to deceive a lending company into believing it was funding two legitimate real estate transactions, according to Deputy District Attorney Daniel Kinney of the White Collar Crime Division’s Real Estate Fraud Section.

The group is accused of stealing the identities of nine people in order to facilitate the fictitious real estate sales. Along with the fake escrow and title companies, the defendants allegedly created a fictitious place of employment for one supposed homebuyer under whose name the two loans were approved, the prosecutor said.

To convince the lender of the legitimacy of the transactions and the entities involved, the defendants allegedly created fraudulent websites, emails and phone networks along with fake employment documentation and bank account statements from a non-existent financial institution for the borrower.

The lender transferred funds to a bank account it believed to be owned by a legitimate title company but was allegedly owned by one of the defendants.

The properties for which the defendants received loans were located in Los Angeles and La Cañada Flintridge, California and had not been listed for sale, the prosecutor added.

They are charged with 28 felony counts, including identity theft, forgery, mortgage fraud, grand theft of personal property, attempted grand theft of personal property, money laundering and counterfeit seal, according to the criminal complaint in case BA472018.

Additionally, Angela Cotton faces one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon with four priors, and Lawrence Cotton is charged with one felony count of receiving stolen property exceeding $950 in value.

The charges include allegations of fraud and embezzlement resulting in the loss of more than $500,000, taking property exceeding $1.3 million in value and theft of more than $100,000. The case was filed for arrest warrant on October 16, 2018.

Angela Cotton, Coleman and Breaux were arraigned this week and pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing setting is scheduled for December 6, 2018 in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

Lawrence Cotton is still at large.

Angela Cotton was convicted in March 2010 in federal court for a similar real estate fraud scheme.

Angela and Lawrence Cotton each face a possible maximum sentence of 22 years and eight months in state prison if convicted as charged. Coleman and Breaux face a possible maximum sentence of 22 years in prison.

Bail was set at $1.41 million for Angela Cotton, $1 million for Coleman and $1.37 million for Breaux. The prosecutor is requesting bail for Lawrence Cotton be set at $1.39 million.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office made the announcement.

The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau.

Edgar Avila aka Michael Mendez aka Michael Edgar Avila-Mendez, aka Michael AvMen was indicted on one charge of mail fraud and one charge of bank fraud in connection with two separate fraud schemes.

According to the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, in January 2014, Avila submitted a loan application to purchase a residence at 2915 Legend Hill Drive, Katy, Texas.  On the application, he represented that he worked for AvMen Entertainment at 924 Town and County 800, Houston for a year and a half as a line producer with a salary of $13,600 per month.  He also stated he attended Devry College of Business from September 2009 through May 2013 to account for his history prior to working at AvMen. Paystubs along with a VOE faxed to the mortgage company confirmed this employment. The officer attesting to the affidavit stated that he was unable to find a legitimate business under the name AvMen and discovered that Avila created the entity as part of his fraud scheme.  An assumed name certificate for AvMen was filed in August 2010 using the same address as listed on Avila’s driver’s license.  The affiant also stated that he confirmed through several sources that Avila and Michael Avmen were the same person. Avila’s disclosed bank accounts did not reveal any income associated with AvMen – nor did they substantiate income nearing $13,000 per month.

To support his claims of attending Devry University, according to the affidavit, Avila submitted a college transcript containing the signature of John J. Getek, as college registrar.  Investigation showed that the Getek was not registrar for Devry, instead, in 2001 he was the Deputy Inspector General of Audit for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General – and Getek’s digital signature was available online from his annual reports to Congress.

In March 2015, according to the affidavit, Avila defaulted on the loan.  In September 2015, the mortgage lender modified the loan and negotiated a payment plan, based on a statement from Avila that he was diagnosed with “cephalic neuralgias” and “Bell’s palsy.”  He claimed his illness caused him to lose his job and that his current job did not pay the same.  The affiant stated that while he could not rule out an illness, Avila was arrested by the Houston Police Department in 2015 “which is the more likely reason for his sudden lack of income.”

The loan was guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

The affidavit also details a vehicle related fraud scheme underlying the mail fraud charges where Avila allegedly provided a fake social security card, false Texas driver’s license and fake Devry University transcript to obtain a vehicle loan. According to the affiant, he then cleared title to the vehicle through a mechanic’s lien sale to himself and sold the vehicle to a Lexus dealership.

Jason Calabrese, 44, Watertown, Connecticut was sentenced to six months of imprisonment, followed by three months of home confinement and two years of supervised release, for his involvement in a series of fraudulent mortgage loan applications involving a straw borrower. Calabrese also was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and $400,585 in restitution.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in November 2005, Calabrese ’s co-conspirator, Thomas Provenzano, obtained a $923,200 loan to purchase a lakefront home located at 27 Palmer Road, Morris, Connecticut, for more than $1.1 million, despite lacking the income to pay off the mortgage. The 27 Palmer Road property was owned by an entity controlled by Ryan Geddes, another co-conspirator. Continue Reading…

Moctezuma Tovar, 46, Sacramento, California and Sandra Hermosillo, 53, Woodland, California pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme.

According to court documents, Tovar was the founder and president of Delta Homes and Lending Inc., a Sacramento, California based real estate and mortgage lending company. Delta Homes opened one office in 2003 and eventually had five offices in Sacramento and Woodland, California. As the president of Delta Homes, Tovar managed the day-to-day operations of the company and prepared and submitted residential home loan applications on behalf of Delta Homes’ clients. Hermosillo was a loan officer at the Woodland office and was also responsible for submitting residential home loan applications on clients’ behalf. Continue Reading…