Posts tagged as:

mortgage fraud

White collar financial crime wave sweeping across US

by Moe Bedard

There’s no shortage of work for Grupe and his team. Mortgage fraud is on the rise, as are bogus job counseling services and frauds conducted over the Internet. Since the financial crisis erupted in 2008, the FBI’s 1,000-agent New York office has tripled its mortgage fraud investigations squad and beefed up its securities and financial [...]

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Hawaii loan officer get 5 months in prison for home stealing scheme

by Moe Bedard

The family was nearly evicted by the mortgage con, and has been living in limbo ever since. Theirs was one of the first homes stolen in what became a common scheme. Mortgage companies promising to save a family from foreclosure actually fooled them into signing title over to a straw buyer and then sucked out [...]

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Two men sent to prison for short sale scams

by Moe Bedard

Federal prosecutors have said Nanan was part of a short-sale scheme with fellow Taylor, Bean & Whitaker employee Victor Cedeno.

Nanan and Cedeno worked with real-estate agents, homebuyers, lenders and title agents during sales financed by Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

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4 arrested in Florida $6 million mortgage fraud ring

by Moe Bedard

MIAMI — Four South Florida residents have been charged in a $6 million mortgage fraud scheme.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office made the announcement Tuesday. Arrested were 53-year-old Carlos Cano of Delray Beach; 34-year-old Robyn Colon of Boynton Beach; 52-year-old Jose L. Colon of Boynton Beach; and 40-year-old Maria L. Lozada of Miami.
They were charged with one [...]

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FTC: Foreclosure scams are like viruses

by Moe Bedard

“All these scams are like viruses or bugs — they adapt and modify,” Baker said.
The FTC says the new scam is the offer of a home audit or lawsuit to get the lenders off your back.

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Haitian man gets 17 years in prison for mortgage fraud

by Moe Bedard

A Haitian man was sentenced Monday to nearly 17 years in prison for leading a mortgage fraud scheme in Phoenix that authorities say cost banks about $9.5 million.
Federal prosecutors say 51-year-old Mario G. Bernadel was convicted last

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Mortgage broker who fled to Iran gets 9 years in prison

by Moe Bedard

A Potomac man who fled to Iran after embezzling millions of dollars from Washington-area banks was sentenced to nine years in prison.
A federal judge also ordered 49-year-old Michael Milan to pay more than $4 million in fines and restitution. Milan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to

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Ricardo Melgoza defies the DRE as he scams more homeowners

by Moe Bedard

Homeowners are desperate and when desperation sets in, mistakes in judgement are made.
Mistakes that may cost them their home.
A Bakersfield, California woman, Zuleyka Ruiz had to find this out the hard way. Not only did Ruiz end up $1,500 poorer, she also ended up losing her home to a man named Ricardo Melgoza. Melgoza had already been ordered [...]

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New Jersey woman sentenced to 2-5 years for foreclosure scams

by Moe Bedard

TUNKHANNOCK – A New Jersey woman who claimed to help people with potential foreclosure problems was sentenced in Wyoming County on Thursday for theft by deception.

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Inland Empire mortgage fraudster held on $5 million denied bail reduction

by Moe Bedard

James B. Duncan, accused of masterminding a $142 million mortgage and securities fraud based in Murrieta, Thursday was denied a reduction of his $5 million bail by a judge who said Duncan poses a threat to public safety.

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FBI arrest New Jersey cop for mortgage fraud

by Moe Bedard

A Jersey City police officer was arrested yesterday by the FBI and charged in federal court with mortgage fraud for lying to a bank to secure a roughly $530,000 loan, authorities said.
Brian Ragauckas, 36, of Secaucus, falsely claimed he was a first-time home buyer in 2008 when he applied for a loan from Countrywide Bank [...]

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Trinity Law Associates – Lawyer Timothy D. Thurman accused of defrauding Korean homeowners

by Moe Bedard

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, attorneys with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center accused a Los Angeles law firm, Trinity Law Associates Inc., of defrauding at least 28 Korean immigrants out of thousands of dollars by falsely promising that their services would prevent foreclosures. Testimony indicates that the firm targeted hundreds of other Korean immigrants, [...]

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NY strip club owners caught in $2 million mortgage scam

by Moe Bedard

The mother-and-son owners of the strip club where Sean Bell was killed were nabbed Tuesday in a $2 million mortgage fraud scam.
Queens prosecutors say Martina Duran, 57, and Roger Arias, 36, used

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Appraisers are whining because they are not in Obama’s short sale plan

by Moe Bedard

Real estate appraisers today announced their opposition to part of an Obama administration plan to pay homeowners in trouble to move if they agree to a short sale, saying the program will lead to mortgage fraud.
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Under the plan, which takes effect April 5, delinquent borrowers who couldn’t get a loan modification can get $1,500 to [...]

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Mortgage fraud cases swamping South Carolina investigators

by Moe Bedard

“It’s one of those things that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, but the numbers are staggering right now, and I think they are going nowhere but up,” said Reggie Lloyd, director of the State Law Enforcement Division and a former U.S. attorney for South Carolina.

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Fake mortgage broker gets 8 years for his loan crimes

by Moe Bedard

An Ocala man who posed as a mortgage broker and submitted falsified loan documents to a now-fallen national mortgage home lender has been ordered to serve an eight-year prison sentence.
Hector L. Rivera, 53, was arrested in December 2008 on one count of racketeering, four counts of fraudulent use of personal

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Guadalupe Ramirez and Augustine Ramirez: Bakersfield agents WANTED for mortgage fraud

by Moe Bedard

A former Bakersfield real estate agent and her father face 15 felony counts each of money laundering, conspiracy and grand theft in connection with an alleged multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme, newly filed court charges show.
Guadalupe Ramirez, 31, and Augustine Ramirez, 60, each are wanted on $1 million arrest warrants. The father and daughter were [...]

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American Home Funding: Colorado Senator Ted Harvey investigated for mortgage fraud

by Moe Bedard

DENVER (AP) – The Colorado Division of Real Estate is investigating allegations that a state senator and the mortgage company where he works engaged in false advertising.
Division Director Erin Toll says state investigators believe Republican Sen. Ted Harvey and the company where he works as a mortgage broker, American Home Funding, misled customers with an [...]

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Loan Help Solutions: Nathan Livingston ordered to cease and desist by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance

by Moe Bedard

Department of Banking and Finance’s Order to Cease and Desist Issued to Nathan Livingston d/b/a Loan Help Solutions d/b/a www.loanhelpsolutions.net d/b/a Mortgage Help Solutions Becomes Final
Atlanta, Georgia – On February 26, 2010, an Order to Cease and Desist issued by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (“Department”) to Nathan Livingston d/b/a Loan Help Solutions [...]

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Brooklyn mortgage broker receives two years in prison

by Moe Bedard

A 41-year-old Brooklyn Center mortgage broker was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison for defrauding clients of more than $800,000.
Terry L. Lemke, owner of All Metro Title, was sentenced in federal court in St. Paul after pleading guilty in August to wire fraud and money laundering.

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