Joyce Esther De Armero, 37, San Jose, California, was sentenced to twelve months and one day in prison and ordered to pay restitution for her role in a real estate investment fraud scheme.
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Andre Lamont Chenier, 41, Houston, Texas, has been arrested on allegations he engaged in an eight-year bank fraud, identity theft and money laundering scheme. Chenier allegedly submitted a personal financial statement that listed fictitious assets as well as tax returns that contained the Social Security number of someone else.
Richard Demaria, 45, Glenview, Illinois, a former managing director of Panorama Global Partners, LLC, a company that falsely purported to trade in certain financial instruments, was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining approximately $4.2 million in investor funds and for misappropriating approximately $3.9 million of those funds.
Anatoliy Azarov, 33, Sacramento, California, pleaded guilty to mail fraud for a mortgage fraud scheme involving 24 residential properties. The defendant and his co-conspirator convinced investors to purchase their inventory of properties at inflated prices and used the excess funds as working capital to continue their business. Continue Reading…
James Currey, 55, Orlando, Florida, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a telemarketing scam wherein the defendant targeted timeshare owners and falsely promised a buyer for their properties in exchange for a fee.
Karen Hanover, 48, Seal Beach, California, was sentenced to 35 months in federal prison for operating a $1.4 million fraud scheme that bilked clients who paid money in response to false promises of ownership in commercial real estate.
Fraudulent investment property schemes are on the rise in the form of straw borrowers, abnormally high appraisals, evasion of purchase guidelines and large numbers of purchased properties. Real estate investment scams typically spread by word-of-mouth and require people to invest large sums of money in investment properties. These types of scam promise a large increase in the value of the property resulting high returns or unusually high interest on contributed funds.
Mark Gardner, 28, Osteen, Florida, and Tammie Lynn Cline, 32, Leominster, Massachusetts, have been charged with one count of conspiracy, five counts of wire fraud, and four counts of money laundering for their alleged role in convincing time share owners to pay a fee in exchange for a prospective buyer.
Andrew Avery, 39, has been arraigned on federal charges of wire fraud and mail fraud stemming from an alleged investment fraud scheme. Avery fled the country, but was extradited from Thailand and arrested on January 26, 2015. He is currently in federal custody.
Kathleen Niew, 59, Burr Ridge, Illinois, a real estate attorney and radio talk show host was sentenced to 70 months imprisonment for stealing approximately $2.34 million from her clients that was intended for commercial real estate closings.