South Florida Feds Nail Two Area Title Agents For Roles In Mortgage Fraud Schemes

In two separate cases, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida recently announced:

• Title Agent Sentenced To 41 Months In Prison For Participation In Mortgage Fraud Scheme: Ishmett Nazario was sentenced to forty-one months in federal prison in connection with her participation in a mortgage fraud scheme. In addition, Nazario was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,442,000. Nazario was arrested in July 2008 for her involvement in the fraudulent sale of residential property located in Coral Gables, Florida. The property was flipped three times within a one year period, almost doubling the price of the property from $780,000 to $1,400,000. Nazario served as the title agent in the third sale and, through her title company Blue Coast Title, fraudulently released the lender's funds from escrow to fund the straw buyer's down payment on the property.

• Broward County Title Agent Convicted On Fraud Charges: Howard Gaines, an attorney and licensed title agent, was convicted after trial on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud. Gaines' conviction was the sixth conviction in this matter, following five guilty pleas by other conspirators in the case. According to the evidence presented at trial, Gaines was a licensed title agent at Your Title Choice, Inc, in Deerfield Beach. Gaines, as a title agent, aided co-conspirator Anthony Dehaney and others to close on fraudulent loans. Among the fraudulent documents presented at closings were HUD-1 Settlement Forms, which falsely represented that buyers were using their own money to close on the purchases. The evidence showed that Gaines helped Dehaney close more than $10,000,000 in loans during 2004, 2005, and 2006, including $5,000,000 in fraudulent mortgages.