Northern Virginia Man Cops Plea In Serial Refinancing Scam

In Northern Virginia, The Washington Post reports:

• [John A. Tsiaoushis, 40,] The former owner of a string of Washington area nightclubs and restaurants pleaded guilty [last week] to federal mail fraud and false-testimony charges relating to a series of real estate scams that netted him more than $3.8 million. [...] Tsiaoushis filed for bankruptcy in October 2005. But by that time, he had begun a series of mortgage frauds in which he repeatedly sold or refinanced two houses in Vienna and in the Fort Hunt area of Fairfax County.

According to the story, Tsiaoushis' scheme involved the diversion of funds earmarked for the payoff of existing liens on the two homes he repeatedly sold or refinanced. Among his alleged escapades were:

1. creation of documents purportedly from the mortgage companies involved,
2. opening local post office boxes,
3. presentation of phony documents indicating that all liens had been resolved,
4. creation of phony bankruptcy court order,
5. directing the real estate settlement company to send the payoff checks to the post office boxes which were purported to belong to the mortgage companies involved, at which point, Tsiaoushis would pocket the checks.

For more, see Ex-Club Owner Pleads Guilty in Mortgage Scams.