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SACRAMENTO, CA - February 26, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb sentenced Joel Blanford, 44, of San Ramon, California, to 30 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for a mortgage fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. On September 19, 2012, following a seven-day trial, a jury found Blanford guilty of six counts of mail fraud

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 - 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.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - August 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the California Department of Justice, in conjunction with the State Bar of California, has sued multiple entities accused of fraudulently taking millions of dollars from thousands of homeowners who were led to believe they would receive relief on their mortgages.

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.

July 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that Matthew “Beau” La Madrid was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge William Q. Hayes to serve a lengthy federal prison term in connection with his operation of the Plus Money Premium Return Funds (“PRF”) and related real estate investment and mortgage fraud schemes. The defendant entered his guilty plea on January 3, 2011.

SACRAMENTO, CA - July 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging seven real estate professionals with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on July 14, 2011.

LOS ANGELES, CA - July 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Six Los Angeles County residents have been charged for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme that used fraudulent loan applications and supporting documents to convince lenders to fund approximately 20 loans that resulted in approximately $4 million in losses.

SACRAMENTO, CA - June 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a grand jury returned a nine-count indictment today against Alonzo Jackson Brown III, 44, of Fairfield, charging him in connection with an investment fraud scheme and a mortgage fraud scheme.

SACRAMENTO, CA - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that United States District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. sentenced Ralondria Stafford, 37, of San Francisco, and Necole Ward, 32, of Las Vegas, (both formerly of Vallejo, Calif.) for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme carried out in Vallejo between 2005 and 2006. Judge England sentenced Stafford to 21 months in prison and Ward to 12 months and a day in prison. The prison sentences are to be followed by three years of supervised release and both defendants were ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution. Stafford and Ward pleaded guilty on June 10, 2010.

FRESNO, CA - May 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that United States District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill sentenced Wrenl Burge, 40, of Fresno, to 41 months in prison and Albert Lewis Ellis, 46, also of Fresno, to 33 months in prison for a scheme to falsify mortgage loan documents. Burge was ordered to pay $1,011,524 in restitution, and Ellis was ordered to pay $548,178 in restitution to the mortgage lenders.

SAN JOSE, CA - May 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal grand jury in San Jose indicted Norma Valdovinos, Claudia Valdovinos, Linda Dung Tran, Elaine “Queenie” Ly, and Pablo Curiel, of San Jose, California, and Jesus Chavez, of Gilroy, California on May 11, 2011, with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and making a false statement to a bank, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced yesterday.

SACRAMENTO, CA - February 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that United States District Judge William B. Shubb sentenced Iftikhar Ahmad, 40, of Stockton, to 21 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $382,750 for multiple counts of mail fraud relating to a scheme involving the fraudulent submission of mortgage loan applications. Ahmad pleaded guilty on April 28, 2008