Archives For false statements

Woman Sentenced for Making False Statements to a Lending Business

Stephanie Abbott —  November 30, 2023 — Leave a comment

Carol Bragdon, 50, Brewer, Maine, was sentenced today to wire fraud and making false statements to a mortgage lending business.

According to court records, between November 2020 and April 2021, Bragdon provided false statements and representations to a residential mortgage lender for the purpose of obtaining a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) backed loan. She used Google email accounts to communicate with the lender and the VA and to transmit documentation as part of the scheme. The emails were transmitted from Maine and through another state.

Bragdon was also sentenced for making a false statement to a licensed firearms dealer in a separate case.

In August 2021, Bragdon purchased five firearms at Maine Military Supply in Brewer, falsely stating that she was the actual purchaser of the firearms. She was accompanied by an individual who directed her to specific firearms and who was later arrested with one of the firearms, a Walther model PK380 .380 caliber pistol. That individual was prohibited from purchasing a firearm under federal law.

The VA Office of Inspector General and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the cases.

STRAW PURCHASING: A straw purchase is an illegal firearm purchase where the actual buyer of the gun, being unable to pass the required federal background check or desiring to not have his or her name associated with the transaction, uses a proxy buyer who can pass the required background check to purchase the firearm for him/her.

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Former Sheriff’s Officer Admits Role in Connection with Fraudulent Short Sale

Stephanie Abbott —  May 23, 2023 — Leave a comment

Osbado Hernandez, 54,  Avenel, New Jersey, a former Hudson County Sheriff’s Officer admitted conspiring to make false statements to a bank in connection with an application to discharge a mortgage through a fraudulent short sale.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From September 2015 to Dec. 30, 2015, in order to induce a bank to discharge the mortgage he owed on his house in Keansburg, New Jersey, Hernandez agreed with others to make false statements in connection with a fraudulent short sale of the property, including that he did not have any money to apply toward his mortgage delinquency and that he did not intend to stay in the house for more than 90 days following the short sale. As a result of the fraudulent short sale, the bank discharged over $98,000 of debt against Hernandez.

The false statements conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 4, 2023.

Hernandez pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court on May 22, 2023, to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to make false statements in connection with the release of a loan.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas Mahoney, and special agents with IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger made the announcement.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine K. Lou, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit.

 

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Three Fugitives Arrested in Multi-Layered Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Stephanie Abbott —  July 22, 2022 — Leave a comment

Heather Ann Campos, 43, Houston, Texas, David Lewis Best Jr., 56, Spring, Texas and Stephen Laverne Crabtree, 62, Herriman, Utah, have been taken into custody on charges related to a multi-layered mortgage fraud, credit repair and government loan fraud scheme. The tri had evaded law enforcement for several months.

All three allegedly sent numerous sovereign citizen letters to federal agencies and the federal court in Houston declaring themselves immune from prosecution and refusing to recognize the authority of the federal courts.

The charges allege Campos and Best recruited clients for credit repair using company names of KMD Credit, KMD Capital and Jeff Funding, among others. They allegedly “cleaned” their clients’ credit histories by filing false identity theft reports with the FTC. After fraudulently inflating client credit worthiness, the co-conspirators fraudulently obtained credit cards, disaster loans and mortgages for themselves and their clients, according to the charges. They were allegedly able to accomplish this through false statements and fake documents.

Campos was a mortgage broker and Buckley a realtor, while operating as a notary was the responsibility of Munoz, according to the charges. After fraudulently inflating client credit worthiness, the individuals allegedly obtained rental properties to deceptively build a real estate portfolio worth millions of dollars in their clients’ names and profit from rental income. The charges allege Crabtree was a credit repair client and recruited others, including his family members, and conspired to commit wire fraud.

In addition, they allegedly obtained loans from banks and the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program and Paycheck Protection Program. They were created in the names of clients, friends and family members through false statements and fake or altered documents.

Using the alias Jeff, Morizono was the leader and namesake for the scheme purporting to do business as Jeff Funding, according to the charges.

Campos and Best were indicted in January on numerous charges for participating in a conspiracy to defraud mortgage lending businesses, banks, Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They indicated they would self-surrender but allegedly fled from law enforcement. Since that date, several other co-conspirators were indicted, including Crabtree. He was released on bond and also became a fugitive.

Others indicted include Steven Tetsuya Morizono, 59, Mission Viejo, California; Albert Lugene Lim, 53, Laguna Niguel, California; Melinda Moreno Munoz, 41, Elvina Buckley, 68, Leslie Edrington, 65, and ShyAnne Edrington, 29, all of Houston, Texas.

Campos is set for a detention hearing before U.S. Judge Dena H. Palermo today at 10 a.m. Best and  Crabtree remain in custody pending further criminal proceedings.

U.S. Attorney Jennifer B Lowery made the announcement.

If convicted, they all face up to 30 years in federal prison and a possible $1 million maximum fine.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Postal Inspection Service and SBA – OIG conducted the investigation with the assistance of the FTC – OIG and IRS – Criminal Investigation.

Other agencies assisted with the arrests of Campos, Best and Crabtree, to include The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake; police departments in South Jordan, Riverton, and Herriman, Utah; FBI Hostage Rescue Team; U.S. Postal Inspection Service – Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City Divisions; and the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Apprehension Strike Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kate Suh and Jay Hileman are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

 

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Man Admits to Making False Reports and Statements to and for HUD

Stephanie Abbott —  April 19, 2022 — Leave a comment

Shenandoah Adams Sr., aka “Shane Adams Sr.,” 56, New Providence, New Jersey, today admitted committing wire fraud and making false reports and statements to and for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), U.S.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Adams was a principal of Adams Property Management and Investment Group LLC (Adams Property Management), which purchased property on Hilton Street, East Orange, New Jersey in 2014. The following year, Adams arranged for a close associate to obtain a $153,562 loan from a mortgage lender to purchase the Hilton Street property from Adams Property Management. After the associate’s mortgage payments on the Hilton Street property became substantially in arrears, Adams arranged for the associate to sell the property to another associate for $255,000. The closing on that sale commenced on May 31, 2016; as of that date, the total amount to pay off the first associate’s mortgage was $210,565, including interest and fees. On June 1, 2016, Adams and the first associate had a telephone conversation with the mortgage servicer for the associate’s lender, during which Adams made false and fraudulent statements to induce the lender to reduce the payoff amount. The lender agreed to reduce the associate’s payoff amount to $190,000. At Adams’s direction, the associate cashed the check for the amount of the reduction – $20,665 – and delivered the cash proceeds to Adams.

Adams also was a principal of VH Electrical and Plumbing LLC.  On March 11, 2015, Adams, on behalf of VH, entered into a contract with the Orange Public Library to replace the Library’s HVAC/chiller unit for $49,000. The project was funded by a HUD Community Development Block Grant to the library and Orange. Adams sent a library representative documentation to give the false impression that Adams was taking steps to order a replacement chiller. Adams received $40,000 from the library, but did not replace the library’s chiller.

The charge of wire fraud carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. The charge of making false reports and statements to HUD carries a maximum potential penalty of one year in prison and a maximum potential fine of $100,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 29, 2022.

Adams Sr. pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Esther Salas to one count of an indictment charging him with wire fraud and an information charging him with one count of making false reports and statements to and for HUD.

Attorney Philip R. Sellinger made the announcement.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. in Newark, and special agents of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christina Scaringi, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cari Fais, Chief of the Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys J Fortier Imbert and Sara F. Merin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Special Prosecutions Division.

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