South Florida Mortgage Fraud Suspects Face New Charges Of Improper Use Of Another's ID To Obtain Mortgage

In Miami, Florida, WPLG-TV Channel 10 reports:

• Three family members, all real estate professionals and investors named in a sprawling mortgage fraud investigation, returned to court Tuesday to face new charges. Mariana Navarrete, husband Jose Rodriguez and 22-year-old Luis Navarrete were booked on three additional charges of grand theft and organized fraud. The latest charges stem from an investigation involving their handyman, whom they helped obtain a mortgage and a home equity loan.

• Detectives said the couple then used Mauricio Vaca’s identity, without his knowledge or permission, to obtain a mortgage for a home in Kendall. They then allegedly falsified papers to sell that home to themselves, pocketed the profit and abandoned the home. Vaca, who had no idea a home had been purchased in his name, learned something was amiss when he began receiving foreclosure notices on the home he didn’t know he owned. He has given statements against his former employers to detectives.

• Last October, Navarrete was arrested in the first sweep of Miami-Dade County’s new task force targeting mortgage fraud. Investigators named her as a ringleader in what they dubbed a “family affair.” They also arrested her ex-husband and two sons for grand theft and fraud. Mother and son Navarrete and husband Jose Rodriguez are accused of profiting from more than $6 million in mortgage fraud crimes.

Source: 'Family Affair' Suspects Face New Charges In Alleged $6 Million Mortgage Fraud Crimes.