Loan Modification

Scottsdale Realtor Guilty Of Forgery, Fraud

Posted on June 01, 2010
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - A Scottsdale Realtor has been found guilty of filling out bogus loan applications while cashing in on homes headed for foreclosure. Kimberly Werking, 44, pleaded guilty to forgery and fraudulent schemes. A Superior Court judge sentenced her to three years probation and a $50,000 fine...

California Department of Real Estate Continues to Battle Loan Modification Scams

Posted on May 31, 2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) continues to unearth and close down unscrupulous and unlicensed loan modification companies who prey on financially stressed homeowners. These companies seek out homeowners who are facing foreclosure and promise to obtain a loan modification, but once the homeowner pays a fee, little or nothing is [...

Investors lost life savings to NH mortgage firm

Posted on May 30, 2010
CONCORD, N.H. - Like others who loaned or invested money into Financial Resources Mortgage, Susan and Al McIlvene did their homework and researched the Meredith Company. They decided in 2008 to start lending money through the broker to help people with credit problems buy homes...

What is Appraisal Fraud?

Posted on May 29, 2010
Appraisal Fraud can also occur when the homeowner, seller or purchaser physically alters an “honest” appraisal using methods such as digital editing A form of mortgage fraud, whereby the value of a home is deliberately appraised above its market value...

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Attorney / Escrow Officer Admits He Executed a Scheme to Defraud Mortgage Lenders and Homeowners

Posted on May 28, 2010
The title insurance industry is part of the real estate industry sector caught in law enforcement investigation activity, which appears to be a part real estate industry fraud that is costing lenders and homeowners millions — if not much more. An escrow account holder is a neutral third party which holds onto, then exchanges, disburses and [...

Former Mortgage Broker, California Woman Plead Guilty to Mortgage Fraud

Posted on May 27, 2010
KANSAS CITY, MO?Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that two more defendants have pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to mortgage fraud schemes, including a $12.6 million conspiracy that involved 25 upscale residential properties in Lee?s Summit, Missouri and Raymore, Missouri and a property-flipping scheme in [...

Virginia Businessman Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for $2.3 Million Mortgage and Investment Scheme

Posted on May 26, 2010
RICHMOND, VA?Chief United States District Judge James R. Spencer sentenced Robert S. Capehart, 55, of Richmond, Virginia to five years in prison on one count of mail fraud, and ordered him to pay $1,967,074 in restitution. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Michael F...

Mortgage Fraud Ring Busted In Queens

Posted on May 25, 2010
Law enforcement authorities have arrested more than a dozen people in connection with a multi-million dollar mortgage rescue fraud in Queens, the district attorney announced from Kew Gardens this afternoon. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown says 26 refinanced residential properties worth about $13 million were stripped over more than $3 million in equities...

Clarke County, Alabama pastor pleads guilty to tax, mortgage fraud

Posted on May 24, 2010
Ron Bordelle Williams, a Clarke County preacher whose church burned under suspicious circumstances, pleaded guilty Thursday to mortgage fraud and filing a false tax return. In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors in Mobile agreed to seek the dismissal of an arson charge and aggravated identity theft against Ron Bordelle Williams...

Five Charged with Wisconsin Mortgage Fraud

Posted on May 23, 2010
MADISON, WI?Stephen P. Sinnott, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced the filing of informations charging five individuals with submitting false loan applications to banks and mortgage lenders to obtain home mortgages...

Six Charged with Wire Fraud Based on $20 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 22, 2010
SAN DIEGO?A 10-count indictment has been unsealed charging six individuals with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Karen P. Hewitt. The defendants are charged with submitting false and fraudulent mortgage loan applications and related documents to banks and other lending institutions, thereby inducing the institutions to make approximately 36 loans [...

Mortgage Broker Faces Fraud Charges in Connection with Alleged Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 21, 2010
SALT LAKE CITY?A federal grand jury returned a 15-count indictment Wednesday afternoon charging Joshua Lee Butcher, age 28, of Salt Lake City, with bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution in what the indictment alleges was a scheme to get construction loans approved using false pretenses...

Former Mortgage Brokers Sentenced for $1.2 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 20, 2010
SPRINGFIELD, MO?Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that three former mortgage brokers were among five co-defendants sentenced in federal court for their roles in a $1.2 million mortgage fraud scheme...

Houston trio indicted for mortgage fraud

Posted on May 19, 2010
(HOUSTON) ? Two sealed indictments charging Veronica Frazier, Robert Veazie and Felton Greer with fraudulently obtaining home purchase loans have been unsealed, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today. Both indictments were returned under seal on May 5, 2010, and were unsealed Friday once the three defendants were in custody...

Yiddish-speaking Nigerian national jumps bail after being charged in massive mortgage fraud scheme

Posted on May 18, 2010
Brooklyn, NY - The feds are hunting this Yiddish-speaking Nigerian national named John Star who jumped bail after he was charged in a massive mortgage scam. Now that’s chutzpah. Real estate broker John Star went on the lam last month, a week after prosecutors in Brooklyn offered to let him plead guilty in exchange for 15 years [...

Two Plead Guilty in Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 17, 2010
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, and J...

Fraud Scheme Preyed on Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Posted on May 16, 2010
A group of 17 people was charged in a multimillion-dollar real estate fraud Thursday, a scam prosecutors say left some victims homeless. The list of those charged includes attorneys, mortgage brokers and real estate advisers. The charges, brought forth by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, accuse two men of having led a predatory scheme to take [...

Former U.S. Mortgage Servicing Manager Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud Related to $136 Million Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 15, 2010
NEWARK, NJ?An East Stroudsburg, Penn., man pleaded guilty today to a wire fraud charge in connection with the $136 million fraud scheme that bankrupted Pine Brook, N.J.-based U.S. Mortgage Corp. and its subsidiary, CU National Mortgage, LLC, U.S. Attorney Paul J...

Former Mortgage Loan Broker Sentenced in $1 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 14, 2010
JACKSON, MS?Gene A. Bradford, 38, of Ridgeland, was sentenced in federal court yesterday to serve 48 months in federal prison followed by 3 years of supervised release for mortgage fraud, U.S. Attorney Donald R. Burkhalter announced. U.S. District Judge David Bramlette also ordered Bradford to pay restitution in the amount of $581,508...

Loan Officer Sentenced to Prison for Role in $9.5 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 13, 2010
PHOENIX?April J. Lucero, 46, of Phoenix, Ariz. was sentenced on May 10, 2010 to two years in prison for her conviction in August 2009 for her involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme in Phoenix, Ariz. Lucero pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Mail, Wire and Bank Fraud, a felony, related to her [...

Mortgage fraud far reaching

Posted on May 12, 2010
FBI official says cities like Gary are still reeling from recent unscrupulous lending tactics GARY, IN - The effects of the mortgage fraud that helped bring down the nation’s economy and resulted in the financial industries’ federal bailout are still being felt throughout Northwest Indiana...

Leader of $9 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme Sentenced 60 Months in Prison

Posted on May 11, 2010
ALEXANDRIA, VA?Ruben Rojas, 30, of Vienna, VA, was sentenced today to 60 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for leading a mortgage fraud scheme that caused more than $9 million in losses. Rojas was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $9...

Mortgage fraud flourishes nationwide

Posted on May 10, 2010
With fewer loans being made, you’d think mortgage fraud would be virtually nonexistent. Yet recent data from the Lexis-Nexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute in Chicago show that the incidence of fraud in 2009 increased 7 percentage points over 2008’s levels...

Phoenix Cops Face Mortgage Fraud Investigation

Posted on May 09, 2010
2 High Ranking Officers Accused Of Scamming People Out Of Homes, Money PHOENIX — Phoenix Lieutenants Lee Brent Shaw and Mark Tallman are facing multiple investigations in connection with their involvement in a company called , a company that customers have claimed preys on people desperate to stay in their homes before scamming them out of [...

Voodoo shrine doesn?t help defendants in Downey real estate fraud case

Posted on May 08, 2010
LOS ANGELES - The owners of a used car dealership and a mortgage company in Downey were convicted in a real estate fraud case, despite the fact that one of the defendants had a voodoo shrine with the names of prosecutors and investigators, the District Attorney’s Office announced today...

Seven Charged in Multi-Million-Dollar Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 07, 2010
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (?FBI?), Miami Field Office, Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Michael K...

Four Charged with Multiple Counts of Wire Fraud in Mortgage Fraud Schemes

Posted on May 06, 2010
Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that four informations have been filed against Russell E. Krouse, Jason E. Davis, Harry L. Gongloff, and Steven M. Taylor, charging them with multiple counts of wire fraud in connection with mortgage fraud schemes which caused $710,000 in losses to Aegis [...

Owner of Title Company in Alabama Charged in Fraud Scheme

Posted on May 05, 2010
BIRMINGHAM?Federal prosecutors have charged the owner of a Birmingham property title company with mail fraud in connection to a mortgage fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance announced. Jerry Eugene Parker, owner of Central Alabama Title, is charged in an information filed Thursday in U...

New York tops nation in mortgage fraud

Posted on May 04, 2010
12% of all cases in the country were filed from the metro area in 2009 New York has earned the dubious honor of being the nation’s leader in mortgage fraud last year, according to a report from the LexisNexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute. MARI’s 12th Periodic Mortgage Fraud Case Report shows that of the 67,190 suspicious-activity reports [...

Though Mormons often victims, LDS Church skips fraud-prevention event

Posted on May 03, 2010
Frustrated by the wave of fraud that by one estimate took $750 million out of Utahns’ pocketbooks last year, regulators, law enforcement officials and attorneys are organizing a free “Fraud College” next month in Utah County for the public to call attention to the problem and to try to combat it...

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