Archives

SACRAMENTO, CA - January 23, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- After a 10-day trial, a federal jury found Hoda Samuel, 60, of Elk Grove, guilty of a conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud and of 30 individual counts of mail fraud.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 16, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal grand jury in Nevada today returned an indictment against 11 individuals for their alleged roles in a scheme to fraudulently take control of homeowners’ associations in the Las Vegas area. The indictment was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting FBI Special Agent in Charge William C. Woerner of the Las Vegas Field Office, Sheriff Douglas C. Gillespie of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Richard Weber, Chief of IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI)

Los Angeles, CA - December 21, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A San Gabriel man who was scheduled to be sentenced on Monday but failed to appear in court is being sought by the FBI, announced Bill Lewis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, and André Birotte Jr., the United States Attorney in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA - November 29, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Glendale man has agreed to plead guilty to federal fraud charges, admitting that he ran three separate scams, including a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 30 families out of more than $8 million.

RIVERSIDE, CA - November 21, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- An Australian man who once worked as a jockey has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for concealing the proceeds of a loan fraud scheme that caused victims to lose more than $5 million in less than eight months

November 1, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A former Southern California resident pleaded guilty today in federal court in Portland, Oregon, to mail fraud charges for orchestrating a mortgage fraud scheme that used fraudulent loan applications and supporting documents to convince lenders to fund more than $20 million in loans on approximately three dozen properties in Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties

October 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced today that Orange County attorney Stephen Kenneth Chrysler was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison for his role in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme involving 16 homes in Oceanside, Escondido, San Marcos, Lakeside, and Menifee. His mother, Aida Agusti Castro, a Carlsbad real estate broker who was also sentenced for her role in the scheme, received a 33-month prison sentence. United States District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller also sentenced each defendant to forfeit over $350,000 in illicit proceeds.

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Attorney General Eric Holder, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, FBI Associate Deputy Director Kevin L. Perkins, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz announced the results of the Distressed Homeowner Initiative, the first-ever nationwide effort to target fraud schemes that prey upon suffering homeowners. The yearlong initiative, organized by the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’s Mortgage Fraud Working Group, resulted in 530 criminal defendants charged in 285 federal cases filed in U.S. District Courts across the country. These cases involved more than 73,000 homeowner victims and total losses by those victims are estimated by law enforcement at more than $1 billion.

SACRAMENTO, CA - August 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Two Chico business partners were sentenced today to prison for a mortgage fraud scheme they operated in 2006-2007, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

RIVERSIDE, CA - July 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Gregory Flores, former manager at All Fund Mortgage in Anaheim Hills, was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge J. Virginia Phillips also ordered Gregory Flores to pay over $1 million in restitution to homeowner victims and over $98,000 in restitution to the IRS for his role in a mortgage fraud conspiracy and for evading taxes.

SACRAMENTO - June 20, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the Assembly Public Safety Committee passed an important piece of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights that aims to protect California homeowners from fraud and scams.

SACRAMENTO, CA - April 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced seven bills in the California Homeowner Bill of Rights to protect homeowners from unfair practices by banks and mortgage companies passed out of Legislative committees.

SAN JOSE, CA - April 3, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- David A. Nilsen was sentenced today to 97 months in prison and ordered to pay $69,828,833 in restitution following his conviction for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with his operation of Cedar Funding, a Monterey-based hard money lender, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

SAN DIEGO, CA - February 15, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Three individuals charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud for their roles in operating a fraudulent mortgage loan modification business pled guilty today in federal court in San Diego, announced United States Attorney for the Southern District of California Laura E. Duffy. According to the plea agreements, Ziad Nabil Mohammed Al Saffar and Sara Beth Bushore Rosengrant admitted that they operated the fraudulent loan audit and modification business, located in San Diego, California, under the names “Compliance Audit Solutions, Inc.” (“CAS”) and CAS Group, Inc., (“CAS Group”). Daniel Al Saffar admitted that he worked as a sales representative in connection with the operation.

SACRAMENTO, CA - January 30, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging two defendants with mail fraud and money laundering in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in losses of at least $180,000 to lenders. Charged are Andrey Kim, 28, of Sacramento; and Sultanmurod Rashidov, 29, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Kim was indicted for another mortgage fraud scam last month. He is scheduled to appear on the new charges on January 31, 2012, before Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney. Rashidov is believed to be out of the country.

SACRAMENTO, CA - December 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. District Court in Sacramento today unsealed an indictment against four real estate investors and an auctioneer for their participation in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County, Calif., Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and Benjamin B. Wagner, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, announced.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - December 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- James Stanley Ward, Edward George Locker, and Richard Ferguson Tipton pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. Ward and Locker entered their guilty pleas on Dec. 6, 2011. Tipton entered his plea today.

SACRAMENTO, CA - December 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Five people have been charged in a federal indictment, unsealed today, in connection with a foreclosure rescue scheme, announced U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Benjamin B. Wagner. The five defendants, Jewel L. Hinkles, aka “Cydney Sanchez,” 61, of Los Angeles; Bernadette Guidry, 43, of Irvine, Calif.; Jesse Wheeler, 34, of Roseville, Calif.; Cynthia Corn, 58, of Oakland, Calif.; and Brent Medearis, 45, of Modesto, Calif., were charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Dec. 1, 2011. Hinkles and Guidry are charged with eight counts of mail fraud. Each of the defendants except Guidry is charged with 16 counts of bankruptcy fraud.

SACRAMENTO, CA - November 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Glenn Watkins, 31; Kevin Watkins, 26; and Frederick Davis, 41, all of Elk Grove, pleaded guilty today to mail fraud for a mortgage fraud scheme.

FRESNO, CA - July 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment today charging Tony Huy Havens, 37, of Modesto, with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud in a mortgage fraud scheme.