Five Charged in Bay Area Mortgage Scam

In California, CBS-TV Channel 5 reports that a 73-count felony complaint was filed in Alameda County Superior Court charging five people in connection with a complex real estate fraud scheme involving seven homes in Oakland through which they allegedly stole more than $3.5 million. Charges against the defendants include grand theft, identity theft, filing false documents and forgery.

Those named in the complaint include Amy Schloemann and Karim Akil, also known as Scott Kinney, the husband and wife owners of Hiddenbrooke Mortgage in Vallejo. Others charged are Hiddenbrooke Mortgage employee Michelle McGuirre, Financial Title escrow officer Wonda Kidd, and Gregory Lamont Orr, the owner of G.L.O. Enterprises, Inc.

Elements of the alleged scam include artificially inflated home values, creation of false documentation for loans by using false addresses, fake bank accounts and forged documents, use of the identity of local real estate brokers and individual citizens without their knowledge to make the transactions look legitimate, and the diversion of the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds to the alleged co-conspirators. New Century Mortgage and Right-Away Mortgage were the reported victims of the fraudulent loan applications.

For more, see Vallejo Mortgage Co. Charged With $3.5M In Fraud.
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