Arizona Feds Score Big In Takedown Of Alleged Mortgage Scammers; Responsible For $100M In Illegal Loans, Say Authorities

In Phoenix, Arizona, The Arizona Republic reports:

• Thirty-six people(1) suspected of being responsible for $100 million in illegal home loans have been indicted in the biggest crackdown on mortgage fraud in Arizona. Most of the defendants were involved in the Valley's real-estate and mortgage industries. All were part of six mortgage-fraud rings in metropolitan Phoenix, some of which have been under investigation since early 2007, according to the indictment.

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• Most of the six Arizona cases revolve around cash-back deals. [...] One of the biggest cases in the Arizona sting involved 23 Valley homes and a dozen players, including real-estate agents, mortgage brokers and a truck driver, according to court documents. More than half those homes were foreclosed on.

For more, see Big Arizona mortgage-fraud bust.

(1) Indicted in the Arizona takedown are Lakisha AlSaadi, Mario Bernadel, April Lucero, Amanda Adorno, Christopher Bartelmus; Marcos Branch, Brittany Ann Parrish, John Webber III, Stephanie McWilliams, Jeffrey Crandell, Jake Whitman, Kurt Holm, Erin Leastman, Fred Crum, Tyson Young, Felix Guzman Sr., Felix Guzman Jr., Fabian Guzman, Maria Guzman, Carl Rex Olson, Andrew Benjamin, Christopher Pirwitz, Mary Elizabeth Ortega Vasquez, Ana Valdez, Rodney Rohde, Daniel Morar, Gheorge Babeti, Cosmina Bunea, Dorel Irimiciuc, Samuel Dobos, Brandon Azadegan, Cipriano Ionutescu, Catherine Zebarth, Christina Mejia, Chris Nero and Roy Fife. All but six have been arrested.