Miami-Dade Cops Round Up Closing Agents, Loan Originators, Straw Buyer Among Seven Charged In Alleged Fraud Scams

In Miami, Florida, the Miami Herald reports:

• Seven new suspects accused of mortgage fraud were rounded up by police, as Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez unveiled new legislation to increase criminal penalties for people convicted of real estate fraud. [Editor's Note: Actually, it was only six new suspects, plus one old suspect, arrested last month on fraud charges, who has now been arrested again on an unrelated charge].

• [One arrest involved] Mariana Navarrete, 44, the registered owner of Confin Home Mortgage & Loan and United Consultants Group, who was arrested last month and accused of recruiting family members to steal the identity of an employee and using it to take out loans. This time, Navarrete is accused of selling a home to a victim twice, each time for $415,000.

• In [another arrest involving] a mortgage scheme often refered to as an ''air loan,'' Richard Gutierrez, 37, was arrested and charged with grand theft for allegedly getting proceeds from a $250,000 mortgage to buy a property that does not physically exist.

• In a [third] scheme, police also arrested Rafael Diaz, 47, who ran a straw buyer scheme in the [Florida] Keys on at least one property. Police say he recruited Justo Santana, 50, to act as a straw buyer for a property in Tavernier that was falsely overappraised by $100,000. Also charged were closing agents, Evelyn Marrero, 36, and Gilbert Oquendo, 48, and loan officer Rayner Aguiar, 24. All five face charges of mortgage fraud, grand theft, and participating in an organized scheme to defraud.

For more, see Seven more arrested in mortgage fraud (no longer available online).